Clothing

Kilts made of ti leaves were worn at dances and festivals as decoration but were not used as ordinary clothing. The clothing for general use was prepared from the bast of the paper mulberry, the breadfruit, and the banyan. The cloth was manufactured by women. The felting process was employed. The cloth made from the three plants had different qualities and different uses. Vegetable dyes, black mud, and coconut oil gave the women plenty of scope in which the vary the types of cloth. The forms of treatment with the resultant types were distinguished by specific names.

Four-sided grooved beaters and a log anvil were necessary parts of an adult woman's equipment in life. Well-made beaters were cherished as valuable property, and in old age or after death the set of beaters and the anvil passed on to daughters by inheritance. Instruction in preparing and dyeing cloth was a necessary part of the growing girl's education.

A loin cloth (maro) was worn by men, a kilt (pareu) by women, and a poncho (tiputa) by both sexes. The pareu is advisedly described as a kilt because the lower, edge of the garment reached to the knees or only just below them. The poncho, consisting of a strip of cloth with a middle hole for the head, covered the front and back of the body, but the sides were open. The garment was particularly worn by women of rank to protect their bodies from sunburn.

A special thick white cloth (tikoru) was evidently made by the priests of the Tongaiti tribe. The ruling Ngariki tribe in the reign of Tuanui wished to destroy the Tongaiti for plotting against them, but Mautara, as priest of Motoro, saved them by decreeing that they should be exiled. Gill (12, p. 132) states:

The alleged motive for not permitting these Tongans to be slain was, "that the sacred clothing of the gods might not be defiled by human blood," and so draw down vengeance on the ruling race. Pati, priest of the exiled tribe, was the sole depository or maker of the superior paper-mulberry cloth as thick as cardboard, used exclusively for clothing the gods, great chiefs, and priests. This "lordly clothing" was actually worshiped by the tribe that manufactured it, under the name of te tikoru mataiapo.

Note: Gill uses the term "Tongans" for the Tonga'iti tribe. The term te tikoru mata'iapo (the cloth of the first-born) denotes the high status of the cloth. Its exclusive use by high chiefs, priests, and gods led to the restriction of its manufacture to the priestly experts who preserved the secret process from the profane hands of women.

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Feather ponchos and headdresses are said to have been made. The feather headdress formed part of the regalia of the high priests of Rongo. They were also made for the favorite daughters of chiefs as an expression of rank. Gill (12, p. 27) relates that fugitives in the makatea whiled away their time by making feather ponchos and headdresses. A survivor, by wearing them, so impressed a chief with his wealth that he was not only able to buy protection but to obtain the chief's daughter in marriage.

Sandals of hau bast were worn for protection against the sharp makatea by visitors to the shore.