To look into the eyes of this uli figure is to come face to face with power. On the Lelet Plateau in central Latangai (New Ireland), important and powerful men were memorialized with intricate wooden figures that depicted male and female anatomy. These sculptures represented the fertility made possible by the chief as well as his success in war. Unlike leaders in eastern Oceania, who passed their positions down to their children, leadership in western Oceania was a role someone earned through success in agriculture and war. Once every generation, all the uli in a village would be displayed together during long ceremonies that accompanied the unearthing and reburial of the skulls of prominent men.