The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-01-18
THE MAKING OF TAPAS IN
THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
interesting Description by Mrs. Rose
Solely of Primitive Art of
South Sea Folk.

I Tic AGSOil u NATIVE 4iISSliULlS ne
vorite dull red tint is extracted from
f., the Bischoffia javanica. whose small,
pale, shiny leaves in nowise suggest the
rich chocolate dye they yield. Some
times, indeed. clay is preferred. and L
have seen the cloth Smeared with red
clay and arrowroot wax, but this was
very common tapa. roughly printed,
with scarce a pattern to mention.
! Once only in Samoa did see the ex-
traction process: and never. surely, in
our most light-hearted "See-saw, Mar
gerry Daw'' days did we have better
fun than those two Samoan women
squeezing chocolate-colored juice from
! the "O'a'' tree in deserted boatshed.
F., Fat they were and sloppy, with dingy
waistcloths and hibicus stuck behind
the ear by way of costume, but who
could afford to be overdreSSed while
pursuing their occupation? Pivoting
+ round and round on bar siung on din
gy cordage, they laughed and joked
and pulled at the thick cigarettes be-
tween their thick lips, while from the
dirty cordage came a monotonous sound
OF dripping. and something suggesting
/ chocolate fell into the oblong wooden
bowl at their feet. 1t was not a grace
full picture: it was not poetica1, yet
which of us would bid those jolly,
plump rry-makers exchange their
task for that of the civilized factory
hand?
Much rarer is the yellow cloth, col
ored by the greatly priced turmeric-
You may know vaguely about the root
] of this graceful member of the ginger
family (Curcuma longa) as the color
ing basis of curry, but you never real
ize it's full value till you become an ISL
and traveller. Then you learn to think
of it as a dye, a cosmetic. soothing
external medicine, valued wedding
gift, but above all as the peacemaker-
For in some islands turmeric- making
is an exclusively female function, car
ried out with formalities that are rem
! iniscent of Judaism, and binding over
an entire village to peace and amity,
often for weeks at time.
| Fijians can vary still further their
! dyeing art, for by mixing the yellow
! bark of the ''kura" root with lime or
ashes they obtain a crimson tint; they
| have also three different trees, the bark
of which, mixed with inedible lemon
juice, yields purple; and they have
even succeeded in producing that rare
article. blight blue tapa, which forms
a particularly ooQuetush drapefS
| against a dark skin.
tirely black, the sable hue being OBJ
tanned from the candlenut tree (Aleu-
ritea moluccana). In the island of Tu-
tuila this candlenut extraction takes
l place on a sacred stone, with all the
/ dignity of a religious ceremony; and
the Samoan .'taupo'-the representa-
tive maid of the village, set apart for
all high functions-loves Ito array her
self in black kirtle. With the sheen OF
black satin, properly fringed. and seal
!, Hoped like the paper on your cook
kitchen shelves, it makes most effect
i've "lava-lava," priced not by maids
only In the Fijis, the chiefs from the
Lau islands used to array themselves
, in black tapa for state occasions, JUST
as native ministers all over the islands
favored the white material until they
: learned to replace it by the washable
; sheet of the foreigner. This black
cloth is unusually substantial ano
weather-resisting the black OVERLAPPING
several layers of brown dye.
With ordinary tapa, co1oring and pat
tern making form one somewhat me-
chanical process. The stiff, geometrit
: designs, handed down from family tt
family, are printed off patterns in rails
ed mating, fastened on the rounded
curve of a portion of tree trunk, or OF
: the raised carving on the wood itself
The sheets of cloth, stained with dye OF
2 rubbed over with clay, are laid on tn:
right side up, and the pattern is repro
t duced by the stenciling process familiar
to us all from childhood-probably th'
earliest form of printing known Il
2 mankind But what is not so familiar
2 is the patience required in utilizing tbs
> comparatively small pattern for large
= | of the nrintlnS
{ has to be repeated in successive layer:
I ere the requisite thickness is obtained
s But the native woman'S patience, like
2 her time, seems ineXhaustible. Seated
generally as one of row, she laughs
! chatters and smokes, the While sh'
i stencils pastes. joins, renews layers
2 remedies thin spots with the monoton
2 Gus tap-tap- tapping accompaniment
E till at last a wide roll of cloth is evolV
ed some twenty yards long, or hahu
. some square of two or three yards, t.
e be carefully laid aside until 1t receives
Y its artistic finish.
4 Here the dainty hand and light touci
= come into play. for all Lhe outlines o
1 the pattern, the curves and bars, tn
[ squares and moons and angles, have
: to be brought out in sharp distinctness
i carefully and slowly painted in brown
n or black, and as a final touch the faori'
/ is oiled into glossiness and is ready TO
-iuse in all its rustling stiffness.
y AS a rule the foreigner thinks gooC
y deal of it, for tapa is becoming fash
{ ionable fad. with fewer drawbacks TO
= the collector than for the native. A
u an article of ordinary household use
e the mulberry cloth is not wholly salts
= factory, being exceedingly hot an
: heavy. True, it makes an ADMIRABLY
s curtain if you require a screen in ma
: tive house. but just try ii as mos
= quito curtain if you want to enjoy
4 sitting night of unrest: not breatl
/ of air can steal through the pasted. oil
q ed substance. Moreover. it will no
f wash. nor even stand a wetting, whicl
: is bad thing for kirtles; so the nativ
[ cloth has come to be more or less of
s gala affair, and the washing cloth o
= the foreigner is in daily demand.
:, But the collector has no desire t