The Coolidge examiner., 1935-01-18

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families, they allow 1t to grow long.
They resume halrcutting at the be-
ginning of middle age and continue
the practice until they are old. For
mature men, custom fayors n rather
close crop over most of the head,
with n bushy tuft left at each side.
There are, however, many excep-
tions TO this rule.
Girls wear their hair in the two
tufts until they become mothers,
and from then on keep their heads
fairly closely shayed-a style dis
couraglng 10 lice The hair is usu-
ally black, though at the ends it
may bleach TO a reddish brown, and
1t may be straight, wavy. or. In a
few cases, distinctly wOolly.
Hands and feet of both men and
women are frequently small and
often delicately shaped, but the in
step Is rarely high and some ma
tives are almost fiat-footed. How
ever. the legs are straight and
beautiful, and many Of the men
have a grace and beauty that might
be the envy Of an ancient Greek.
Virtually every woman wears as
a skirt a fathom of canvas, kept In
place by a belt of woven pandanus
leaf or plated human hair. The
upper part of the body is left bare.
For q mans attire strip of calico
passing around the waist and be-
tween the legs and tied back and
front suffices. Children of both
sexes 90 naked till they are about
eleven or twelve.
Elaborate Tattooing.
Both men and women are tat
tooed. The decoration Is begun in
early childhood and with the fore
head and nose. The forehead pat
tern resembles an open book. AT
the age of twelve or so, when the
girls first wear skirts permanently,
they receive suits OF tattoolng from
waist to knee that look from a dis
tance like close-ftting. figured
black bloomers. Only on close in
spection can the actual pattern be
discerned.
The pattern is made up OF fish
and geometrical designs. AS the
girl grows older, fish are added
around the hips and on the stom-
ach. Later still when she becomes
pregnant for the first time, the tat
tooing is finished by the covering
OF the breasts, chest, back, arms,
and even the cheeks and chin lines
of the face with fish design.
The men have far less tattoo thanT
the women. Except on the fore
head and nose, they have none un-'
I'll they are about twenty years of
age. Then two broad bands are
added, extending from the shoulder
around the back TO the thighs and
In front terminating in two arrows
on the chest. The arm Is tattOoed
either with fish or geometrical de-
sign. A row Of dots just below the
eye gives lhC lhdb q
woman seeks when she darkens her
lids; II makes the eyes stand out
and appear to be much larger than
they are. When q man Is the father
of a family, he may have a few fish
added on his back and hips and
thighs; but many forego this right.
n.fSo Mae4
1t would be impossible to find
any other single tree which serves
such a variety of ends as the coco
nut palm, especially on Leuaniua
island. 1t gives food and drink
the latter particularly important on
smaller islands where there are
no water holes. Visitors have gone
for ten days with nothing to drink
but coconut milk. Also, it furnishes,
besides the cOpra Of commerce, a
strongly alcoholic toddy and a
sticky sirup resembling treacle.
The husks and shells provide
fuel, and the dried spathe Is excel
lent tinder. The shells serve as
plates, spoons and water bottles.
The watts for walls and for beds are
made from the leaves; the dried
leaves, tied into bundles. give light
as torches and flares. The spines
of the leaves are made into brooms,
and the central stalk provides a
weak timber which is put to a num-
Der of uses. The outer skin Of this
stalk is useful where a strong,
tough rope is required, as in lash
ing the gunwale of the canoe to the
dugout log.
The rope made from the husk
fiber serves all general purposes
from house ties to fish line. A
coarse covering at the base of the
leaf. which at n first glance looks
like a roughly woven fabric, is
made into strniners and sieyes. The
actual trunk OF the palm, although
not very durable, is made into
spears and walking sticks, or cut
into logs for sitting platforms