DKH01-023_kombaning - Kombañiŋ teplakay ‘Painting faces with Annato tree pigment’

The bright orange-red coloured oily seeds of kombañiŋ ‘annatto tree’ (Bixa orellana) are so frequently used in face painting and body decoration that, for the Awiakay, they are nearly synonymous with ritual, traditional songs and dancing. The seeds are also used as a pigment for colouring the string for making bilums. Painting faces with kombañiŋ is associated with the excitement and the joyous atmosphere in the village when everyone is preparing for a night of singing and dancing. It is the time of benevolent relations in the village, as dancing never occurs during disputes or when two groups have heavy feelings about each other. Making this string figure involves two players, and requires two long strings. Both players make the moves simultaneously. When the final design emerges, the players go in to ‘paint their faces with annatto pigment’. In the second part of the recording the two players were asked to describe their moves. We can hear them hesitating when doing so, as this is not how they normally talk about string figures. The Awiakay terms are thus used with some improvisation. Images: 02: The fruits of Annato tree (Bixa orellana) contain the oily seeds which are used as pigment 03: Charles Moyambe painting his face with annato tree pigment (2009) . Language as given: Awiakay