Mat

Item number 566/2 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Description

The mat is rectangular and natural coloured with two fringes. The mat is woven and the weave is curved. There is a strip of red fabric sewn to one edge of the mat. Attached to the fabric are purple dyed chicken feathers. A long fringe extends past the fabric and feathers. On the opposite edge there is a shorter, squarer fringe.

Specific Techniques

Pandanus is known as either laufala, laupaogo, or lau'ie, depending on what it’s being used for. When being used for weaving, pandanus leaves takes weeks to be prepared. The leaf is separated into its three layers (traditionally using a beetle wing, known as avi'ivi'I, or with a razor blade now). The leaves are rolled and beaten, soaked, and sun-dried multiples times. To make the leaf brighter, it’s bleached in salt water. When woven, these mats will be finished in the opposite corner of where the weaver started (-for example, the terminal braid in the bottom left corner means it was started in the top right corner). If no terminal braid was attached, the mat wasn’t finished.