Pendant (Ulute or Papafita)

Across Solomon Islands, men and women wear a wide variety of shell pendants and chest adornments. Made using materials from the land and the sea, adornments can communicate the status of the wearer, transform the body for ceremony, provide protection, or enable communication with ancestors. On Malaita, sa’ela’a are a type of pendant typically caved from giant clamshell (Tridacna gigas) featuring incised designs filled with black pigment. Sa’ela’a could be worn by men or women. The pendants feature a variety of different designs, but the most common involves a mirrored pair of frigate birds, known locally as gaula. The frigate bird plays an important role in the art and cosmology of Solomon Islands and the wider Pacific. As a hunter of the sea and sky, frigate birds embody the qualities of ferocity and bravery in a warrior as well as a serving as an all-important guide overhead to fishermen. Frigate birds also herald the annual arrival of large schools of bonito fish, which play a vital role in the economic and ceremonial lives of Solomon Islanders.

There is much variation in frigate bird designs found on sa’ela’a. This motif is typical of the east Kwaio region of Malaita, though the discs themselves were traded widely (Burt 2009). In the 1980s, makers at the Kwaio Cultural Centre began producing engraved shells pendants for the export market and today this influence can be seen in contemporary jewelry made in Solomon Islands.