Te tumara

Te tumara. Shell girdle. This is a waist ornament worn as part of the costume adornment of a Kiribati female dancer. It consists of a single row of tumara (white moon shells) lashed on the plaited te kora (coconut fibre). Te ira n atu (human hair) is also used for lashing the tumara shells onto the plaited fibre. Each tumara has a hole near the edge for ornamental suspension to lash on the plaited kora. One end of the tumara girdle is knotted, and one is left unknotted. The tumara shells are a natural colour of white with some pale orange spots across the exterior surface. The colour of the interior part of the shell is naturally pale orange. The exterior spire is in a natural colour of dark brown. Te kora is brown in colour. Te ira n atu is naturally black in colour.