Te Bure. Dance ornament of egg cowrie shells. This is a dance ornament worn upon the neck or across the waist. They are considered rare and valuable. Another example is te bure n aonibai (arm ornaments) that would be worn for the ruoia dance. These bure are bulbous in form, off-white in colour and smooth in surface texture. Both of their ends feature short spires. Opposite, the other ends present an interior canal. The aperture of the bure are narrow. Their interiors are off-white in colour with some presence of dirt. The inner lip curves inwards with a softly serrated surface. Circular perforations have been drilled into the mid section of the inner lip. This could have been made from the use of a terebra shell or te uubai (pump drill). A two ply cordage of pale brown kora (coconut sennit fibre cordage) and dark brown human hair has been threaded through the circular perforations and knotted both te bure together. The ends have been left untied. Te bure are usually kept in the possession of mature and/or married women.