Title: The forbidden tree of Lawe’s Parotia, Ömie mountains and beaks of Blyth’s Hornbill

This design was taught to Ivy-Rose by her father-in-law, the late Albert Sirimi (Nanati), former Assistant Paramount Chief of Ömie men. The main design of Ivy-Rose’s work is mairi’e jeje ijo’oho, the forbidden tree of Lawe’s Parotia (Parotia lawesii). Lawe’s Parotia is an extraordinary bird and is part of the bird-of-paradise family. It is black in colour and has six wires extending from its head and a golden crest on its chest. Male birds perform spectacular courtship dances for females in arenas, which are also created and tended by the male. In Ömie territory, the bird is found only on the highest ridges of the mountains and it is held sacred by Ömie people. If a jeje nest is disturbed the winds will become strong, the sky will suddenly become dark and stormy and the rivers will flood. If a tree where the jeje nests is cut or burnt, its nest disturbed, or if it is hunted for its feathers then when the perpetrator returns to the village after causing the harm all of the pigs in the village will have died. The continuity of this design plays an important part in upholding the jagor’e (traditional Ömie law) that protects Lawe’s Parotia. The black sawtooth design that can be seen in the work are dahoru’e, Ömie mountains. This design relates to the sacred ancestral geography of Ömie territory and is painted in a myriad of variations by Ömie barkcloth artists.