Te tumara

Te tumara. Ornamental girdle. Te tumara is a waist ornament used as part of a young girl's dance costume. It consists of a single row of te tumara (cypraea isabella shells) attached to plaited te baa ni kaina (pandanus leaf), natural in colour. Each tumara has a perforation near the edge for lashing using benu (coconut husk fibre). Each tumara is then threaded on the plaited baa ni kaina with te kora as well as commerical European thread of an off-white colour. Approximately three to four tumara are missing from the design. Each tumara shell is an off-white colour.