Ilma Savari has created the design of maja’e, the eye of the rising Sun, with garoro han’e (the leaf of the palm) radiating out from the sun, and with an ugune (bird’s egg) seen at he very centre of the sun’s concentric circles. This is an Ancestral sihoti’e design (design of the mud) whose origins can be traced back to the Koruwo village area on the Managalasi plateau c.1880. The design was sewn with a bat-wing bone needle and a river reed was shredded to create the sewing thread.

The Ömie creation story tells of how the very first sihoti’e nioge was created by Suja, the first Ömie woman and mother of the world, under instruction from Mina, the first Ömie man, after she experienced her first menstruation. Suja dyed the plain barkcloth in the volcanic clay at the River Uhojo at the base of the sacred Mount Obo. Suja wore the mud-dyed barkcloth during her menstruation and lived in seclusion in a small hut known as jé’o jarwé (also called ivi’ino’ové’tové) for its duration.

Ömie legend tells of how in the very beginning when the first ancestors emerged from Awai’i underground cave onto the surface of the earth, Ömie and Managalasi people were one tribe but later split into two tribes. This is why both Ömie and Managalasi people share many of the same ancient barkcoth designs, including sihoti’e.

It was extremely fortunate that Ilma’s Managalasi mother, Sarah Ugibari, from whom she inherited this design, married an Ömie man and moved to his village otherwise her important art may have been lost. In both of the Managalasi villages, Koruwo and Kiara, where she grew up, the missionaries collected all traditional cultural items including barkcloths, created piles and burnt everything. They also imposed a ban on traditional initiation, marriage and funeral ceremonies and the production of barkcloth. Sarah’s art has taught us that the historical cultural links between Ömie and Managalasi people is incredibly strong and that the practice of sihoti’e, as evidenced in the Ömie creation stories, is ancient.

Copyright for the text remains with Ömie Artists Inc.

‍