Economic Botany Collections

Bag made of fibre

This string bag, or bilum as it is known in New Guinea, was traded at Humboldt Bay where the H.M.S. Challenger was docked on the 23rd and 24th Feb 1875. Bilums have great significance in New Guinea society and have a multitude of uses, including the carrying of firewood, food, personal possessions and even babies, to being used to store the bones of ancestors. They are also used in ceremonies. For example they may be given to males at various stages of initiation into manhood. They are generally made by women and girls, although men may decorate their bilums themselves.

The yarn used in the making of this bilum comes from the bast fibres of a tree from the Malvaceae family, likely to be either Thespesia populnea (Pacific Rosewood) or Hibiscus tiliaceus (Sea Hibiscus – known as Paritium tiliaceum at the time) – both tropical coastal hardwood trees which are used throughout the Pacific region for making cordage and rope. The bilum is decorated with parts of crustaceans and shells, reflecting the importance of the ocean in the lives of people living in coastal New Guinea.

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