Etete

Etete; ete. Collection of armbands. There are eight parts to this collection and they have been tied together as a bundle. All are made of te ira (pandanus leaf). Each have been made with wide lengths of naturally coloured te ira. A single length has been wrapped around the centre of the naturally coloured lengths to form the circular armband. It has then been fastened together with a smaller pinule of te ira where extended ends have been left to stand upright. The ends have been cut to form a swallow-tail like shape then pressed to define a chevron style pattern. The upright ends show some fibrous areas from wear and some areas of dappled black spots on the pale yellow te ira parts. Five out of the eight bands have been made to be worn across the arms, depending on the size of the their diameter they can be worn on the upper or lower part of the arms of a dancer. The latter of the collection are smaller in size and have been made to be worn upon the fingers of the dancer. The upright ends would stand perpendicular to the dancers arms and hands, extending the swift movements of their arms. These are worn by either young girls or women. They would be worn for standing dances such as kamei or kateitei as well as sitting dances like bino.