This item is a ceremonial dance hat or headdress from Mornington Island in Queensland. The hat has a conical shape and it is made out of bark and wrapped with hand spun human hair yarn and decorated with white and red ochre. The headdress is topped with Emu tail feathers. This Aboriginal headdress was acquired by Sir Lorin Hawes in the 1950s and he gave it to me as a gift in 1985, so it is nearly 60 years old and I have displayed it in my home for the past 28+ years. The hat is in very good condition. The only problem is that some of the human hair yarn has unraveled at the bottom of the hat (see photo). I have monitored the pricing of these ceremonial hats and found that they have sold for $355, $484 and $900 on eBay in the recent past. Please click on the links on the prices to see pdf files of these past auction final prices and descriptions. I started the selling price at the average of the 3 prices and I will decrease the price each week until it is sold.