Stilt Steps

In the Marquesas Islands, tapuvae stilts were used during ritual jousting competitions held as part of funerary ceremonies honoring important members of society. As noted by the Brooklyn Museum (inv. 56.6.106), these contests pitted warriors against one another as each attempted to knock his opponent off balance; according to oral tradition, the most skilled performers were even able to execute somersaults.
The Dallas Museum of Art (Foundation for the Arts Collection) adds that each stilt consisted of a pole measuring between five and seven feet tall, to which a carved foot support, the tapuvae, was lashed. Attached approximately two feet above the ground, the foot supports served as a platform on which the warrior stood upright on the stilts.
Carved from hardwood, the tapuvae depicts a Tiki figure with flexed legs, an arched back, and a distinctive face: large almond-shaped eyes, a continuous brow line, and a broad nose with flared nostrils. The body is rendered in a frontal, columnar manner, with arms held close to the torso, and the surface is adorned with engraved motifs evoking ceremonial tattoos.