Vatican Museums

A head ornament used in dances and performances. These plumes are part of a group of objects that were sent for the 1925 Vatican Exhibition. The headdress is made of cassowary feathers secured with resin and vegetable fibre strands to a hardwood stick coloured red, with some traces of white pigment. These plumes are attached to the top of conical bark hats (yululu) worn by men in ritual performances. The bunch of feathers can be inserted into the hair or, as happens in southern Australia, Mornington Island, Melville Island and Central Australia, into a cone of bark sheets tied by a hair string. The plume shape generally represents a blossoming flower but it can also assume other meanings.
The use of head ornaments is very ancient and widespread in Australia. Although made of a great variety of materials, feathers are commonly used. Some ornaments, such as those used in warring engagements or in welcoming ceremonies, are secular and can be seen in public whilst others used only in particular ceremonies have sacred and restricted meanings so their view is forbidden to the uninitiated men, as well as to women and children.