Tapa samples
date: label: Accession Date
content: 3 Oct 2016
label: Collection Date
content: Nov 2014
name: label: Donor Name
content: Michele Austin Dennehy
notes: label: Notes
content: Two small rectangular pieces of Fijian barkcloth. Off-white tapa, entirely covered with various designs (geometric and leaf motifs) painted in black and medium brown. Both pieces were made and collected at the "Festival Des Tapa, Lien Culturel D'Oceanie" international symposium in Tahiti, in November 2014. The tapa was made and painted by two sisters, Koto Lesubulamainiusiladi Matemosi and Vitacini Tapilala Matemosi. Video footage of this barkcloth being made is in the National Anthropological Archives. In the video, Matemosi notes that the red colorant is made by using mangrove juice mixed with red clay. The mangrove juice is collected by scraping the bark of the mangrove tree. The scrapings are then boiled in water for 4 days to create a thick, strongly colored liquid. The clay is formed into a large rod which is then grated to a fine powder for use.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 10 Jan 2017
label: Specimen Count
content: 2
place: label: Place
content: Tahiti, Society Islands, France / Fiji, Polynesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Fijian
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2071958
label: USNM Number
content: E434503-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Barkcloth
physicalDescription: label: Length - 1 Of 2 (Larger Piece)
content: 45.5 cm
label: Width - 1 Of 2 (Larger Piece)
content: 30.5 cm
label: Length - 2 Of 2 (Smaller Piece)
content: 20.5 cm
label: Width - 2 Of 2 (Smaller Piece)
content: 17.8 cm