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Boats and parts of boats We do not know a great deal about Engganese boats. Descriptions and photographs are lacking. Some sources state that large canoes existed in the past, and that there were even boat races in which families competed. Only three models of small Engganese boats have been preserved.[43] According to local informants the large boats were owned by the suku, in particular the female line of the kin group. A similar principle of ownership was applied in the case of the beehive houses. Several boat ornaments are kept in museum collections. Prow ornaments include wooden flying birds and expressive wooden heads with mother-of-pearl eyes and teeth. Curved wooden sticks were attached to the stern with white pieces of cotton. The meaning of this decoration is not known. A carving, in which sometimes a male and a female figure can be distinguished, connects the left-hand and the right-hand boards of the canoes. | |
