PI00005483

Samoan women are happy to show their handiwork and look forward to the annual event that provides national recognition of their skills.

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Coconut husks are beaten to remove the pith from the fibres that are used to make sennit.

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Logoa'i Kamisi and Sulusi Mulia are from the village of Lotoso'a, Saleimoa, where sennit had not been made for many years. Despite this, the process could still be recalled.

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Smoke from burning candlenut seeds creates soot which, when mixed with o'a, creates the black dye used to paint designs on the bark cloth.

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Seeds of the candlenut tree are the source for a black dye created to highlight patterns in siapo.

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The coconut tree is the penultimate symbol of the Pacific Islands.

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Samoan women express their joy through dance following the parade of fine mats.

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The husk fibres used to braid coconut sennit are dried briefly in the sun after the pith has been removed.

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Once beaten, the mulberry fabric is stretched out in the sun to dry.

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Several women often paint the finishing touches on larger siapo.

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Weaving Social Cohesion. Samoan women are adept at weaving and the finest of mats are known as 'ie sae, These mats are a form of cultural currency used in ritual exchanges to strengthen identity and kinship ties. The plant fibre used comes from a variety of pandanus that is cultivated primarily by the weavers themselves.

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Tens of thousands of metres of coconut sennit are used to lash Samoan houses together. Nowhere is this more noticeable than in the roof with its many structural members held together with the cordage.

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Samoans recognise the value of their natural resources and the children pictured here with sennit coconut seedlings are taking part in Arbor Day activities (2012).

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Lesā Motusaga Fa'anū is a Master Builder of traditional Samoan houses. Among his many skills is the making of coconut sennit, the cordage used as lashing in traditional architecture.

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Samoans developed an ingenious process of submerging coconut husks in the sea for up to four weeks to soften the pith that holds the precious fibres needed to make sennit.

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The bast is carefully beaten and folded to create an ever widening cloth that can be up to a metre in width at the large end of the tree.

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Makulata Fa'atoafa is an expert siapo maker from the village of Siutu in Savaii. Here she is cutting mulberry trees for the precious bast (inner bark) that is used to make the cloth.

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The first stage of processing siapo is to remove the bark and bast from the slender tree.

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Scraping and folding the bast greatly facilitates the eventual width of the cloth produced which can be up to 10 times the natural width of the bast.

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It is the inner bark or bast that is used to make siapo.

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Mareta Faumuina uses water and different scraping shells to begin the process of making the bark cloth, a well-established process that has been practiced by Samoans for countless generations.

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Every year, hundreds of women from all over Samoa take part in the national parade of fine mats on the National Day for Women.

PI00005448

The niu'afa is Samoa's sennit coconut. With husks measuring up to 50cm in length, these elongated coconuts have been found to be the longest coconuts in the world.

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Patterns and motifs are highlighted with various natural dyes and colourants.

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The leaves of the lau'ie plant, the variety of pandanus used to make the finest mat of Samoa, have serrated edges and a serrated spine that must be removed first.

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The fine mats made by the women of Apai on the island of Manono, are greatly admired for their white colour that turns coppery over time. The pandanus leaves are bleached after four days and nights in the sea.

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After removing the spines, the pandanus leaves are rolled up for boiling in water until soft.

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The stripped pandanus leaves are soaked in the sea for four nights, an ingenious process that bleaches the fibre.

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The paper mulberry tree is known in Samoa as "u'a". It is harvested when the tree is approximately 50mm in diameter.

PI00005456

Samoan children first learn about crafts such as sennit making at an early age. This young boy hopes to one day be as skilled a sennit maker as his grandfather who is also a Master Builder.

PI00005467

The bast is carefully beaten and folded to create an ever widening cloth that can be up to a metre in width at the large end of the tree.

PI00005459

Makulata Fa'atoafa is an expert siapo maker from the village of Siutu in Savaii. Here she is cutting mulberry trees for the precious bast (inner bark) that is used to make the cloth.

PI00005460

The first stage of processing siapo is to remove the bark and bast from the slender tree.

PI00005466

Scraping and folding the bast greatly facilitates the eventual width of the cloth produced which can be up to 10 times the natural width of the bast.

PI00005461

It is the inner bark or bast that is used to make siapo.

PI00005462

Mareta Faumuina uses water and different scraping shells to begin the process of making the bark cloth, a well-established process that has been practiced by Samoans for countless generations.

PI00005444

Every year, hundreds of women from all over Samoa take part in the national parade of fine mats on the National Day for Women.

PI00005448

The niu'afa is Samoa's sennit coconut. With husks measuring up to 50cm in length, these elongated coconuts have been found to be the longest coconuts in the world.

PI00005479

Patterns and motifs are highlighted with various natural dyes and colourants.

PI00005436

The leaves of the lau'ie plant, the variety of pandanus used to make the finest mat of Samoa, have serrated edges and a serrated spine that must be removed first.

PI00005440

The fine mats made by the women of Apai on the island of Manono, are greatly admired for their white colour that turns coppery over time. The pandanus leaves are bleached after four days and nights in the sea.

PI00005437

After removing the spines, the pandanus leaves are rolled up for boiling in water until soft.

PI00005439

The stripped pandanus leaves are soaked in the sea for four nights, an ingenious process that bleaches the fibre.

PI00005458

The paper mulberry tree is known in Samoa as "u'a". It is harvested when the tree is approximately 50mm in diameter.

PI00005456

Samoan children first learn about crafts such as sennit making at an early age. This young boy hopes to one day be as skilled a sennit maker as his grandfather who is also a Master Builder.

PI00005471

Seeds of the "loa" tree produce a bright red colour that is used to highlight designs and motifs on Samoan siapo

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Highlighted areas are painstakingly painted with different natural dyes. The brush used is a actually a seed from the pandanus fruit.

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O le Siapo Samoa. Samoan siapo is known also in the region as tapa and is used in rituals and ceremonies. Here a young Samoan woman presents a fresh coconut and a traditional siapo cloth to honour a recipient of these gifts.

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As a form of cultural currency, fine mats are presented to builders during a ceremony to mark the completion of a traditional house.

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Funerals are among the many rituals where fines mats are exchanged.

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Samoa is a country of great natural beauty with a rich and distinguished cultural heritage. Living in seeming isolation from the rest of the world in the vast Pacific Ocean, Sāmoans have developed over several millennia, an extensive body of traditional ecological knowledge giving rise to a wide range of artisanal skills enabling them to create all they need to live in comfort and safety.

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O le 'Afa Samoa Coconut sennit - a verstile fibre at the base of Samoan culture

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Wild turmeric produces a strong yellow-orange colour when squeezed and is an important colourant in the finished patterns.

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Natural dyes and pigments are used to decorate the bark cloth with patterns. The sap of the "o'a" tree is reddish-brown in colour and is a natural fixative also used as a base with other colours.

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The first stage of printing siapo uses a carved board (upeti) with design transferred using a rubbing technique with the colourants applied on the top of the rubbed fabric.

PI00005438

Women work in groups when preparing the pandanus. The softened leaf is stripped lengthwise giving rise to the name "'ie sae" or stripped leaves. The top side of each leaf is stripped from the bottom.

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The sap of the o'a tree is the main colourant used to "paint" designs on to the bark cloth.

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Young girls in Samoa are encouraged to learn how to weave the fine mats who greatly enjoy the parade of mats known poetically as "fa'alelegapepe" or flight of butterflies.