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Samoan Material Culture

Mat collecting

Mat collecting

The tu'u papa or tu'u fala custom is the procedure whereby a chief may collect mats for a new house by asking for them at another village. He usually takes the taupou maid of his village, his talking chief, and some young men to carry home the spoil. On entering the village, the taupou goes to the house of the women folk, aua-page 76luma, while the others enter the appropriate guest house. The village chiefs gather, and bring 'ava for the ingunga welcoming' bowl. When the visiting talking chief replies to the ceremonial greetings, he explains that the visit is a tu'u papa to collect mats for the chief's new house. The local chiefs then return to their houses and inform their wives. Meanwhile the visting taupou has also promulgated the object of the visit. The women get together and contribute so many each. A levy of one to two hundred is soon made up and duly presented, gratis, to the visiting chief. He usually stays the night, when a laulautasi meal contributed and shared by the local chiefs is given in the evening followed perhaps by dancing as a further expression of hospitality.

The chief thus gets his quota of mats, and the few contributed by each family entails no hardship upon them. Pratt defines tu'u fala as going about begging for mats, but this conveys a wrong impression. It is a useful custom still in force, and carries no stigma. The chief gives his neighbors an honorable opportunity of assisting in the furnishing of his new house, and he himself is ready to reciprocate on any future occasion. It is immaterial whether papa or fala is used with the word tu'u. A woman in Savaii who had been much annoyed by parties carrying out the introduced custom of celebrating at the New Year, determined to get something back by counter attacking with the tu'u fala custom. Accompanied by her children she made the rounds of the village, and returned home with over fifty floor mats.

Bedding. Inured to the hard floor from childhood, the mass of the people used bedding consisting of a floor mat with a cover of a sheet of bark cloth when needed. The bark cloth has given way to foreign cotton cloth sheets. For chiefs the sleeping mats consist of fala with narrower wefts than the floor mat. These are usually plaited with a twill stroke instead of the usual check. Some of these have geometrical designs introduced by using colored elements, but evidence points to this type being introduced. So also is the use of fringes of colored worsted. Sleeping mats are also made of lau'ie.

A raised bed termed ulumoenga is made by laying mats above each other to a height of a foot or so. Bark cloth is also used to raise the pile. The finer mats are placed above the coarse floor mats. Nowadays, sheets and modern pillows are used to finish off with, but mattresses are rarely used. The use of leaves and grasses under the floor mats has not been in vogue.

Pillows. The pillow of bamboo {'ali) is still much used. Thus, a floor mat, a sheet, and an 'ali serve the majority of the people. The man who uses a raised ulumoenga generally has a modern pillow stuffed with kapok which has been introduced throughout the islands. Bamboo is called 'ofe, the nodes pona, and the internodes upu. Large bamboo, about 3 inches in diameter, is used for the headrest. The length of the pillow is counted by internodes and ranges from one ('aliupu tasi) to several. The ends are always cut off close to the outer side of the end nodes. (See Pl. III, D, 2, 3.)

The legs (vae'ali) are formed in pairs from the forked branches of some light wood such as pualulu that will not split easily. In a typical pair, the legs are about 1 inch in diameter with a spread at their lower ends of 7.75 inches. The upper surface of the upper connecting part is 2 inches wide and is cut concave to fit the curve of the bamboo. In the middle line between the legs, the connecting wood is over an inch deep. The height of the legs is page 773.75 inches which makes the total height of the pillow 6.75 inches. According to the wishes of the maker the legs may vary in height to suit him. The lower ends of the legs are cut obliquely to fit level with the ground, and the outer edges are trimmed.

The legs are lashed to the ends of the bamboo with sennit braid. In short pillows the legs are lashed close to the ends just inside the nodal joins whilst in long pillows they are placed much nearer the middle. Two methods of lashing are in vogue: round the circumference of the bamboo (fig. 60), or through a transversely bored hole (fig. 61).

Figure 60.—Lashing of pillow legs, circumferential method:

Figure 60.—Lashing of pillow legs, circumferential method:

1, near leg; 2, bamboo; 3, commencement knot; 4, far leg; 5, to 7, lashing turns: a, end view in which the braid is tied around the leg nearest the operator with a running noose, and passed over the bamboo around the far leg; b, side view in which the first turn (5) passes obliquely upward from the right side of the near leg to cross the middle line defined by an imaginary line drawn over the bamboo from the mid points of the legs where they touch the bamboo. After crossing about half way up the side of the bamboo, the braid runs parallel with the left side of the middle line to a similar crossing point on the other side, then it runs obliquely down to the right side of the far leg. The braid (6) passes under the far leg, runs obliquely upwards 'from its left to cross at the far lateral crossing point, returns on the right side of the middle line parallel with the first turn, recrosses on the near side, and runs obliquely to the left side of the near leg to pass under it to the right when the braid is back to its starting point. Thus, the turns cross the middle line and then recross on the opposite side to pass under the leg on the same side that they started from. c, Side view. The following turns follow successively on the outer side of the preceding turns until three turns have been made on either side of the middle line. Care is taken to fit the turns neatly together to form a clear pattern, d, Side view. The lashing is finished off by making horizontal turns (7) passing over the previous series and between the two wooden elements to tighten up the lashing in the usual Samoan technique. e, End view. The horizontal nature of the finishing turns (7) is shown and the manner in which the first series of turns passed under the legs on either side. The braid is fixed by passing it under the last loose horizontal turn, drawing the turn taut and cutting off the braid. The short end is concealed by tucking it behind the turns.

The circumferential lashing does not prevent the legs from slipping around on the smooth bamboo, but as the other pair can be readily slipped around to the same position, the movement forms no serious objection to the method of lashing. The raised nodes prevent the lashing from working over the ends of the bamboo.

The lashing through holes prevents the legs from slipping round the bamboo, but it does not give such a neat appearance as the circumferential lashing. Probably it is a later development due to greater facilities for boring holes.

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The "V" shaped legs of the bamboo pillow supply the "V" or chevron motive in tattooing and carving with the name of vae'ali. No corroborative information was obtained concerning the report that live snakes were sometimes confined in bamboo pillows.

Figure 61.—Method of lashing pillow legs through transverse holes:

Figure 61.—Method of lashing pillow legs through transverse holes:

l, legs; 2, bamboo; 3, first series of turns; 4, hole through bamboo; 5, first series turns passing-through bamboo; 7, finishing turns. A hole is bored through both sides of the bamboo on the lashing site at corresponding points less than half way up. Sufficient of the lower segment of the bamboo circumference must be included to give a strong enough support for the lashing. The lashing turns are exactly similar to those of the previous method, but instead of the first series passing over the top of the bamboo, they pass through the holes on the near and far sides of the bamboo. The order of the turns is the same, but no careful overlapping of a decorative nature is possible as the greater length of the turns is concealed in the interior of the bamboo. The method of passing the braid backwards and forwards through the holes is taken from the technique of canoe building. One end of the braid is tied around the near leg. The other end is unravelled, the strands thinned down and then replaited to form a thinner braid, or even two-ply twist. The thin end is caught in the split end of a piece of green, coconut leaflet midrib. The midrib acting as a needle is passed through both holes and the braid drawn through. A long loop is formed by lifting up one strand of the braid in the part that has not passed through the near hole and passing the thin end through under it. The midrib needle is discarded. By manipulating the continuous loop, the braid can be drawn through the holes after the turns are made around the legs. The method obviates the continued use of the needle which is too weak to draw the braid through when the holes become crowded with the previous turns. a, Side view, showing the first series of turns (3) and the finishing turns (7); b, view of section through the holes showing first series passing around the legs (3) and through the holes (5) and also the finishing series (7).

An Upolu type of pillow made for Mr. Judd by the chieftainess Kalala consists of two sections of bamboo; one superimposed on the other and kept in position by a mesial, longitudinal strip from the lower passing along the cavity of the upper. (See Plate III, D, 1.)

Wooden pillows of the Tongan type are in use in Samoa. They were introduced and are not made locally.

People desiring to rest in the daytime call out for an 'ali. Most Samoans still prefer it to a modern stuffed pillow, as it gives firmer support. The back of the neck is rested upon it. When other people are present, it is bad manners to recline with the feet toward them, or toward the interior of the house. One may rest sitting Cross-legged against a wall post, or even stretch out the legs by covering them with a floor mat, but to slip further down into the reclining position is unpardonable. When the pillow is brought, it is turned towards the interior and the feet are thus stretched out towards the wall posts. With this proviso one may doze off and leave the conversation to others with-page 79out being guilty of rudeness. It is correct, however, to premise the request for the pillow by suggesting a short rest.

Curtains. The rounded end of a guest house is sometimes partitioned off into a sleeping room. A cord or rope is stretched across about six feet above the floor. The ends are tied to convenient parts of the wooden framework. Over the cord a very large piece of bark cloth is hung as a curtain. The term pupuni (to shut in or enclose) is also given to the curtain.

Large pieces of bark cloth are specially prepared for curtains (pupuni). They are made long enough to extend across the width of the house, and are over six feet in depth to allow a fair overlap over the stretched cord. Nowadays the curtain is pegged to the cord. In all guest houses in which I stayed one end was curtained off to give privacy to the guest. Practically every guest house had a large pupuni curtain as a necessary part of its equipment.

Sometimes shorter lengths of cloth (potu) are used. Three or four pieces are necessary to shut off the width of the house. The whole combination forms a pupuni, but the individual pieces are potu. The part of the house screened off as a room is termed afeafe.

Mosquito curtains (ta'inamu). A tent of bark cloth has been in use from ancient times as a protection against mosquitoes (namu). References to ta'inamu in old legends prove their age. A large rectangular piece of cloth was doubled over a cord stretched six feet above the ground. The length along the cord had to be sufficient for the length of the occupant, and allow for the edges being sewed together at either end from the cord to the ground. The sewing was done by puncturing holes with a pointed stick and threading some fibrous material through them. The curtain was spread laterally by transverse curved rods passed under the cloth and above the cord which formed a ridgepole. The material had to be long enough not only to reach the floor all around, but to provide sufficient surplus upon which stones were placed to keep it in close contact with the floor. The curtains were effective but very warm and stuffy. Their use was the lesser of two evils.

The bark cloth ta'inamu has completely given away to the introduced trade article, which is in universal use. It is tied to stretched cords, and stones are used to keep the edges down.

Cords and ropes. Sennit braid and twisted or braided cords, or small ropes of fau bark, form part of the house furnishing to suspend mosquito curtains or hang clothes on when necessary.

Stones. In addition to the large gravel floor, larger waterworn stones of basalt are always to be found in the houses for use as weights, not only for page 80mosquito curtains but to keep mats down when there is wind. They are also used in the dwelling houses in one of the processes of bark-cloth making and in plaiting fine mats. From constant handling, these stones become quite shiny. They are by no means an insignificant part of the furnishing.

The floor gravel is also useful for expelling pigs and fowls. Dogs have the freedom of the house, but such missiles are used against them if their behavior needs reprimanding. The affection of a Samoan for his dog is psychological. He will allow it to starve and suffer from curable skin diseases, but he resents anyone throwing a stone at it.

Pegs. Straight or forked sticks are stuck in an upward slanting position into the thatch as pegs (to'otu) for use as hangers. They may be tied to the wall plate.

The tautaunga is a food-suspending cord protected from rats by a length of bamboo ('ofe). (See fig. 62.) The smooth outer surface of the bamboo prevents rats from climbing down the rope. These protectors are hung up in the dwelling house.

Figure 62.—Food protection (tautaunga) against rats:

Figure 62.—Food protection (tautaunga) against rats:

a, a piece of bamboo about 1 foot long has the nodes pierced and the rope run through. The food basket, parcel, or piece of meat, is tied to the lower end, the other end is passed over a main purlin, the food drawn up, and the rope tied to a part of the woodwork within reach of the floor. b, Rope used for drawing against side of roof when tautaunga is not in use.

Food. Cooked food purposely left over from a previous meal may be hung up in its basket on the fata shelf. The plaited food platters (laulau) are kept on the fata.

Property. Rolls of floor mats not in use are kept on the supports formed by the lowest set of collar beams in a round house or the fata shelves. The property constituting the wealth of a chief, such as fine mats, fibre mats, and bark cloth, is rolled up in bundles (ta'ui) with an outer covering of bark cloth and tied with sennit or fau rope, and stored, well out of reach, on the upper tiers of collar beams of both long and round houses. This is the only method of storing, as receptacles such as boxes were not used. The wooden boxes cut out of the solid (tuluma) now frequently seen in Samoan houses, are an introduction from the Tokelau Islands. The four-cornered, plaited basket of fold, page 81said to be locally developed in technique, was a receptacle for the few articles of apparel in use. The reserve stock, which had to be considerable, owing to the incessant demands of custom, were stored as described. The more tiers that were occupied by the ta'ui bundles, the greater the apparent wealth of the family, and the greater their status. While greatly influenced by ceremonial and rank, the Samoan has a very commercial side to his nature, to which food and property strongly appeal. It is openly stated by them that negotiations for a marriage were often commenced by a talking chief for his own chief after seeing the abundance of ta'ui bundles displayed on the upper collar beam tiers of the guest house of an unmarried girl's father. The talking chief's own chief might be quite happily married, and have no personal desire for change. The girl might not even know him. Neither of these conditions affected the talking chief. The only thing that influenced him was the plentiful supply of ta'ui bundles. Material property came as a marriage gift with the bride to the husband's family. In the distribution which followed, the talking chief, from his official position of chief negotiator, established by custom, received a substantial share. Thus in social organization, the ta'ui bundles and the upper collar beam tiers played an important part. The high shelves, in full view of visiting chiefs, not only satisfied the material necessity for storing, but served the equally important psychological need for display. One wonders whether all the bundles contained what their exterior conveyed.

The tuinga headdress of human hair, and the feather 'ula, used with the headdress or as ceremonial kilts, were often stored in a split bamboo receptacle, tied up in bark cloth and hung from the roof like the food protector.

Brooms (salu) are made from green coconut leaflet midribs which, on drying, become hard and stiff. The leaflet midribs are first separated from the leaflet by splitting with the thumb nail on either side. The midrib is then torn from the leaf midrib with a sharp jerk which leaves the outer parts of the leaflet still attached to the leaf midrib. The husk of the mature coconut is also used after beating it to loosen up the fibre. Three kinds of salu are used.

A hand broom (salu lima, lima meaning hand) is formed by merely tying a conveniently sized bundle together near the butt ends. The tied part is held by the hand. An improved form is made by plaiting the butt ends of the midribs together in a three-ply braid. (See Plate III, B, 2.) In tearing them from the leaf midrib, thin strips of the leaf midrib are torn off; these enter into the braid. The braid is then neatly rolled on itself to form a convenient bundle of leaflet midribs. The lashing gives a neat finish to the butt end.

A handle (salu tu) is added to the hand broom type by arranging the butt ends of the midribs around the end of a stick, and lashing them together. (See Plate III, B, 1.)

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A spider broom (salu pungaleveleve—pungaleveleve, spider) was devised for removing spider webs from the inside of the high roof. One form was made by lengthening the handle of the salu tu sufficiently to serve the purpose. A second form was made by using coconut husk fibre instead of leaflet midribs.

The first two forms are used for sweeping the floor and the adjacent surface of the stone platform. Women work very carefully over the floor in the mornings, picking up rubbish and the short fibres discarded from sennit braiding. Even the stones are picked over and replaced. Floor mats are put outside to air in the sun.