Te katau

Te katau. Waist ornament. This waist ornament is made of three different materials: te nana (coconut shell), te nouo (conus shell) and te kora (coconut sennit fibre cordage). Te katau is made up mostly by a series of small, circular and perforated discs of te nana. They are thin in depth and have been threaded onto a band of kora. Sixteen off-white circular discs of similar size to the discs of te nana have been ground from te nouo and threaded in pairs, dividing the discs of te nana into eight sections. The band of kora is longer than the amount of discs threaded onto it revealing sections of kora. It has been knotted in two different areas, one knot shows a longer loose end of kora. The size of the discs and length of band show that this was made for a young girl, mostly worn for dances. It would be worn across the waist on top of te riri (skirt).