Subut Bird Effigy Totem Statue Sowas Tribe Yamok Yamuk Sepik Roof Finial 41A .

Yamok is a several hours walk off the Sepik. The men carve a bird (Subut) a good being in the Yamok creation myth. In the beginning, the Yamoks say everything was fluid. An evil rapist crocodile raped a woman form, the original woman, but the bird pulled the woman away and rescued her from the clutches of the crocodile and flew her away to the safety of the grass country.She laid two eggs, which the bird helped her tend and protected her through the birth of her children. When they hatched, one had a human form. The other was a crocodile man (kombiomo) who now lives in the barets (channels) and rauwnwaras (oxbow lakes) between Yamok and Korogo. The kombiomo is more likely to be evil than kind.

This figure had been used as a roof finial. Generally birds in these finials were considered clan ancestors because it was believed that the bird brought the first man to the . Right, new bird effigy from , Sowas Tribe, .