Te katau

Te katau. Waist ornament of coconut shell discs and dolphin teeth. This is substantially made up of three components; wii te kua kewe (dolphin teeth), te nana (coconut shell discs) and te kora (coconut fibre sennit cord). This is a single-stranded piece, where there are twenty-six wii te kua kewe separated by multiple te nana. Te nana are of various shades of its natural, dark brown colour and are perforated at the centre. Wii te kua kewe are off-white in colour with blemishes and are perforated at the root. The perforations are intended to enable threading on kora. Te kora is formed using the two-ply technique. Each strands are tied together near the ends, leaving a small portion in a tassle-like manner. A small piece of brown fibre is wrapped around the neck of where the strands are tied together. A characteristic feature of te katau is the use of wii te kua kewe.