Palau is an archipelago of over 500 islands, part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific. The scene depicts a famous legend. Milad, the granddaughter of Latmikiak, lived on the islet of Ngibtal in Palau. She possessed a magic breadfruit tree with a hollow trunk that reached down into the lagoon. Occasionally a large wave would force up through the trunk many fish, which provided food for the village.
In time people became jealous and cut down Milad’s magic tree. The ocean poured in through the severed trunk, flooding the island, which sank below the sea. There, it is said, the tree trunk may still be seen lying in the clear lagoon to this day.
This board was hand-carved in ironwood (casuarina equisetifolia) by Saharius Omengbar – prisoner #96940 in the Korvar Prison.
24"H x 18"W x 1"D