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Te katau

human history
  • Other Name

    Waist ornament of coconut shell discs and dolphin teeth (English)

  • Description

    Te katau. Waist ornament of coconut shell discs and dolphin teeth. This is 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 double-stranded piece, where one has eleven wii te kua kewe separated by multiple te nana and the other is solely te nana.

    Te nana are of various shades of its natural, dark brown colour and are perforated at the centre and wii te kua kewe, off-white in colour, are perforated at the root, all for the intended purpose of threading on te 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 characteristic feature of te katau is the use of wii te kua kewe.

  • Place
    Nonouti/Gilbert Islands/Kiribati
  • Accession Number
    1940.3
  • Accession Date
    1940
  • Other Id

    25123 (ethnology)

  • Department

    Pacific

Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply

Images and documents

Images

  • Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • Te katau; 1940.3; 25123; Cultural Permissions Apply
  • ornament
  • ornament

Artefact

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