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The Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki)

Plaiting Commencement, hatu

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Plaiting Commencement, hatu.

The setting up of the connected butt ends in a continuous row for the full width of the mat is termed hatu. Hatu corresponds to the Maori whatu, which, however, is applied to the technique of clothing manufacture and the single-pair twining of fish traps. There are two kinds of hatu commencement, the hatu tahi and the hatu rua.

Figure 92.Single butt commencement, hatu tahi.

Figure 92.
Single butt commencement, hatu tahi.

Hatu tahi commencement. In this, all the butt ends lie in one direction hence tahi, one. The unsplit butt ends are about 18 cm. long, Fig. 92. The butt ends lean towards the right. Some of the strips from the butts continue straight on to form dextral wefts, whilst others are bent to the left to form sinistral wefts. In this manner, though all the elements start parallel, they are immediately separated into dextral and sinistral wefts to provide the crossing elements necessary to plaiting. The plaiting technique in these mats is the check stroke. As defined, each pases alternately over and under each consecutive crossing weft.

In Fig. 93, the first butt, A, has been divided into four strips. Of these, the first two continue straight on as dextral wefts, whilst the other two are bent to the left to form sinistral wefts as far as the side edge of the mat. The next butt, B, has three strips. Of these, the first two continue on as dextrals, whilst the other is bent to the left to form a sinistral. Of the four strips of butt C, the first two continue as dextrals, whilst the other two are bent into page 109
Figure 93. Single butt commencement, hatu tahi.

Figure 93.
Single butt commencement, hatu tahi.

sinistrals. Of the three strips of butt D, the first forms a dextral, and the other two, sinistrals. The figure shows clearly enough that the manner of interlacing from the butt ends is dictated by the check technique. Once the plaiting has started the working edge is the diagonal line formed by the last sinistral, which has been interlaced with dextrals. A set of alternate dextrals is raised and the sinistral is passed between them and the other set of dextrals, which has not been raised. The raised set of dextrals is lowered over the sinistral, and the other set picked up. This provides a place for the next sinistral, and so the check technique goes on automatically. The technique on the left of Fig. 93 will be explained later. No matter how untidy the butt ends may appear in Fig. 92, this is rectified after, when they are split into wefts to form a join.
Figure 94.Double butt commencement, hatu. rua.

Figure 94.
Double butt commencement, hatu. rua.

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Hatu rua commencement. In this method, there are two (rua) sets of butts. One set leans towards the right and forms all the dextral wefts, whilst the other set leans towards the left and forms all the sinistral wefts, Fig. 94. There is thus no bending of the strips to form sinistral wefts.

Figure 95.Technique of hatu rua.

Figure 95.
Technique of hatu rua.

In Fig. 95 the butts A, B and C provide the sinistral wefts, and the butts D and E, the dextrals. The wefts from the first butt, A, have a very short course as sinistrals, for they commence the side edge from which they are turned back to function as dextrals. The three wefts from A do not interlace as sinistrals with any other dextrals because they commence the side edge. From A on, the butt strips are laid down in pairs, the dextral first and the sinistral across it, as in D and B, and then E and C. Again the manner of interlacing the strips from the butts is dictated by the check technique. The hatu rua is a much tidier looking commencement than the hatu tahi.

The Side Edges, piu. On the left of the hatu commencement, the left side edge must also be commenced. In the koviri type of mat, the edge is formed on the left by turning the sinistral wefts back into the body of the mat as shown in the preceding four figures. Each sinistral, as it comes into the vertical line of the side edge, is turned at right angles to its previous course and functions as a dextral. As the front and back surfaces of the weft page 111material are of different colour and appearance, the same surface of the weft must be kept uppermost when it is bent in at the side edge. This is done in two movements
Figure 96. Turning the sinistral weft on the left to form the piu side edge.

Figure 96.
Turning the sinistral weft on the left to form the piu side edge.

as shown in Fig. 96. In A the sinistral weft, S, is shown projecting beyond the edge. A half-turn is made by turning the under surface upwards and directing the weft along the line of the edge, as in B. Another half-turn is made, exposing the original upper surface and directing the weft S, into its new course, as in C. Just sufficient of the left edge is formed to supply enough dextrals to form the diagonal working edge.
The working edge of eight or more dextrals is carried on by the addition of fresh strips until the full width of the mat is reached. The right edge is formed in a similar
Figure 97. Dextral wefts turned inwards on right edge.

Figure 97.
Dextral wefts turned inwards on right edge.

page 112manner to the left, except that it is the dextrals that are turned back to form sinistrals. Thus in Fig 97, the lowest dextral, 1, is turned upwards as in Fig. 96B, and then inwards, as in Fig. 96c. It becomes a sinistral weft, passes under the dextral 2, and continues the check plait. The dextrals 2 and 3 are treated in a similar way. The right edge is continued up to the level of the plaited strip on the left, when the hatu commencement is complete. The hatu thus consists of interlocking butt ends with a plaited depth necessary to keep the wefts locked in position.

The hatu may be plaited in sections by different women. The parts are assembled and joined by plaiting the dextrals on the right of one section with the sinistrals on the left of another section. In the intermediate sections the piu edging is not made.

Plaiting the Body, raura. The length of the rauhara strips is not sufficient to plait a full length mat from one hatu. The hatu is made for the full width of the mat from side to side, or piu to piu. The set of wefts is plaited as far as the length of the material will go, but it usually takes three or four of these lengths to make a full-sized mat. The length made from one set of wefts is termed a raurahanga. The general term for plaiting is raranga, but plaiting the raurahanga is also termed raura. Thus if it is said of a woman, "Tei te raura i te moenga," we know that she has completed the hatu but has not reached the join, or is between two joins.

The technique of the body is the simple check that was started at the hatu. The plaiter commences on the left end of the hatu. and continues the check plait. She continues the left edge upwards until she secures a convenient number of dextrals to form a diagonal working edge. Instead of taking one weft and passing it under and over each individual crossing weft that it meets, she works a number of dextrals in two alternate sets Thus, in Fig. 98A she is working from the diagonal edge made by the last sinistral, R, with a set of eight dextrals. The alternate wefts, 2, 4, 6 and 8 have been placed across R. but in the process of doing this the left hand has picked up the alternates. 1, 3, 5 and 7. which were beneath R. This locks the sinistral R. in place with a check plait, and provides a place for the next sinistral, S which is placed in position in Fig. 98B.

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Figure 98.Technique of check plaiting.

Figure 98.
Technique of check plaiting.

The picked up dextrals, 1, 3, 5 and 7, are being loosely held in the left hand to keep them out of the way. The left fore-finger and thumb seize the new sinistral, S, at the point marked X, and pull it taut. The thumb is on the upper surface of S, and pointing down its course, whilst the third, fourth and fifth finger still keep the dextrals 1, 3, 5 and 7 out of the way. The right hand now takes the top raised dextral, 1, and straightens it out over the new sinistral S. In doing this, the worker purposely presses the dextral down over the tip of the left thumbnail so that as it slides over into position on the sinistral S, it makes a clicking sound. The left fore-finger then skips over the dextral 1, and picks up the next dextral, 2 which is the top one of the other alternate series. Dextral 2 slips loosely back into the hollow between the left fore-finger and thumb. The left thumb nail slips on a space and the right hand brings the next raised dextral, 3, across it with a click into position. The left fore-finger picks up the next lower dextral, 4. which joins 2. The left thumb slips along the sinistral, S, for another space and the next raised dextral 5, is clicked across it into position. The left fore-finger picks up the next recumbent dextral, 6, which joins 2 and 4, The left thumb slides on a space and the last raised dextral, 7. is clicked across. The left fore-finger picks up the last of the recumbent dextrals. 8, and the movement is completed as shown in Fig. 98C. It will be observed that the two sets of alternate wefts have changed position across the new sinistral, S. In doing this, they have executed a number of check strokes, the dextral wefts 1 to 8 being alternately above and below the sinistral.

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The previous raised set, 1, 3, 5 and 7, is now recumbent, and the recumbent set, 2, 4, 6 and 8. is now raised. This provides a shed or position for the next sinistral, T, which is below the recumbent dextrals. In the next movement, T will be raised and placed above the recumbent dextrals, and the movements that took place over the last sinistral, S, will be repeated.

In the movement towards the right to bring in the new sinistral T, another dextral comes into the combintion. It is marked 9 in Fig. 98C. To comply with the check technique, the sinistral, T, must be brought over the new dextral, 9. Thus in the figure there are five recumbent dextrals, which is one too many for the working set of eight wefts. The problem is solved by dropping the top member of the five out of the working combination. Thus in the next movement, the top raised dextral, 2. is clicked across and the next recumbent dextral, 3, is raised. The movement finishes with the dextrals, 2, 4, 6 and 8 being recumbent, and 3, 5, 7 and 9 being raised. The working set of eight is thus maintained by discarding the top dextral of the last combination and adding the new dextral which appears below. This goes on automatically and the same depth of plaiting is maintained right across the width of the mat. When the right edge is reached the requisite number of dextrals are successively turned back to function as sinistrals, and complete the side edge in the manner described in the hatu commencement. Another working set is commenced on the left, and the movements described above repeated. So by successive widths, the raurahanga body with its side edges is continued until the narrowing and shortening wefts indicate the next stage of technique.

If the technique shown in Fig. 98 is carefully cosidered, it will be seen that in principle it closely resembles check weaving. The two series of alternate dextrals in plaiting resemble the two series of alternate warps in weaving. The hands alternately raise one set and depress the other to form a place for the sinistral, just as the mechanical heddle alternately raises and depresses the two sets of warps to form a shed for the weft. This alternate rise and fall automatically works the check technique in both cases. The difference is one of degree, initiated by finer and softer material and developed by mechanical invention. The oblique working edge in plaiting was the only one possible of getting right-angled crossings where page 115all the elements were fixed at the commencement to one straight row. The shortness of the working edge was influenced by the number of elements the human hands could conveniently manipulate, hold and keep taut. With finer, softer and longer elements, the check stroke with a plaiting technique became increasingly difficult and practically impossible for the unaided fingers. Fixation of the free ends of the alternating dextrals to prevent tangling created the beam, and the maintenance of the two alternating series demanded a mechanical device, the heddle. The fixation of the ends of the alternating elements changed the oblique direction of the dextrals of plaiting to the longitudinal or vertical direction of the warps of weaving. The crossing elements could no longer originate from the same line and function at right angles by taking a half turn to the left. Hence they parted company and the weft came in at right angles from the side. The mechanical contrivance enabled all the warps to be arranged into two series, instead of the few as in plaiting. The weft therefore crossed the whole width of the work. It became possible for a weft of continuous yarn collected on a shuttle to cross backwards and forwards. Thus one weft element did in one movement what took a sinistral several stages to complete.

In both plaiting and weaving, the working moves away from the body.

Though some authorities deny that weaving was derived from plaiting, a study of the actual movements used indicates that the two crafts have more in common than the superficial resemblance of the arrangement of elements in check or twill.

The Join, hono. The raurahanga, having reached its full depth as indicated by the shortening wefts, a fresh lot of material has to be added to provide new wefts for another raurahanga. The new wefts connected by the butt strips are joined in a manner similar to the technique of the hatu rua commencement. A hatu rua commencement is made along the front edge of the completed plaiting but each new weft, whether dextral or sinistral, carries an old weft with it for a certain number of strokes. The dextrals are placed on the under surface of the mat, each weft being made to coincide with the under surface of a corresponding old dextral. The sinistrals are placed on the upper surface of the mat, each new one being placed on a corresponding page 116old sinistral. Thus in Fig. 99, the old dextrals, Dl, can be seen lying on the new dextrals, D2, in the upper part of the Figure.

Figure 99.The join, hono.

Figure 99.
The join, hono.

On the left of the figure, the new sinistrals, S2, can be seen lying on the old sinistrals, S1. The butt strips of the new dextrals cannot be seen as they are beneath the work.

The butt strips, dextral and then sinistral, are added as the plaiting works to the right. The plaiting in check is the same as before except that each weft contains two elements. The working combination is usually about eight dextral wefts in two sets of alternate fours. As one four is raised and the other lowered, an old sinistral is placed between and a new sinistral laid on it. The raised four dextrals are crossed over them and the other four raised. This movement disposes of that pair of sinistrals and prepares the way for the next. At the same time the top dextral weft drops out of the working combination, and a new double weft is picked up below. So the work goes on to the right where the join is completed. The working: combination of eight dextrals makes a join of double wefts connected and held by the simple check technique It is about 2 inches in depth.

Commencing now on the left, a fresh strip of the new raurahanga is plaited from left to right with the new wefts. The tip ends of the old sinistrals are on the under surface of the work and below the new sinistrals. They are simply discarded by not being picked up. The tip ends of the old dextrals are on the upper surface of the work and above page 117the new dextrals. They are simply pushed aside or may be immediately cut off close to the edge of the last crossing sinistral in the portion marked X in the Figure. The butt strips of the new sinistrals are on the upper surface and these are subsequently cut off. close to the edge of the first crossing dextrals, in the position marked Y. The tip ends of the old sinistrals and the butt strips of the new dextrals are on the under surface of the work. They are subsequently cut off close to the edge of the last crossing wefts. On the true upper surface of the mat the ends are cut off just under the edge of the crossing wefts so as not to show, but on the under surface there is no need for such care in concealing the cut ends.

During the plaiting of the body a defective weft can be replaced by placing a new one over it, and plaiting them as a two element weft for a few strokes to fix the new weft, when the old one is dropped and subsequently cut off.

Figure 100.The join, hono. Sinistral butt strip on near left edge. Strips of white paper show where ends were cut off.

Figure 100.
The join, hono. Sinistral butt strip on near left edge. Strips of white paper show where ends were cut off.

In the completed work, the join can always be detected by the thicker strip running across the mat or by looking for the lines of cut-off ends, Fig. 100. The general name for a join is hono, as in Maori. Where the new elements are joined by their butt ends (tuma), the join is a hono tumu; where by the tip ends (kauru), it is a hono kauru. In the latter, the new wefts are placed on the work singly as they are not connected at this end.

A full-sized mat usually consists of four sections with three joins, "e ha raurahanga, e toru, hono." Where the strips are extra long there may be only two joins. Where a join or a finish is to be made with the long butt strips page 118of either of the hatu commencements, the connected butt strips are split into their component wefts.

The Finish of the Ends, taviri. The mat having reached the full size of four raurahanga, the two ends have to be finished off—the two side edges have been turned in with each strip of plaiting, as the mat is of the koviri type. In a mat with decorative borders, the coloured band has to be worked first, but whether plain or decorative, the finish must be some form of the taviri technique. Fig. 101 shows the finished taviri on the under side of the mat.

Figure 101.Taviri finish of mat.

Figure 101.
Taviri finish of mat.

To conceal the cut-off ends of the wefts, the technique is carried out on the under surface of the mat. The mat is therefore turned over after plaiting the decorative border. The principle is to plait a narrow depth and whilst doing so to turn a sinistral and a dextral from the top down the course of a sinistral, and fix them at the plaiting edge with the ordinary technique. Any number of dextrals may be used for the working edge. In Fig. 102, six have been chosen. From the level of the completed front edge of the plaiting, the left edge of the plaiting must be continued upwards until the six dextrals are available, Fig. 102a. These are in two series, 1, 3 and 5 being down, and 2, 4 and 6 being raised.

The next sinistral, B, is placed in position but before the working dextrals change position to effect the check technique, something must be done to get rid of a pair of wefts and commence the end edge. The only avenue back towards the body of the mat is along the course of the sinistral, B. As the defining edge must start from the left, the first weft to be turned back is that farthest to the left, which is the sinistral, A. The sinistral, A, is therefore bent over and turned down along the course of the sinistral, B, as in Fig. 102b.

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Figure 102.Technique of the taviri finish.

Figure 102.
Technique of the taviri finish.

The second element of the pair to be disposed of must be a dextral. It must be the one nearest the proposed edge and is thus the highest, which is the dextral, 1. This weft is therefore bent down at right angles along the course of the sinistral, B, as in Fig. 102c.

The pair of wefts to be disposed of being in position, the check movement is made. Thus the dextrals 2, 4 and 6 are crossed over, and at the same time the recumbent wefts are picked up. These were 1, 3 and 5, but the top one, 1, has been otherwise disposed of. This, however, merely corresponds to the dropping of the top dextral in ordinary plaiting and the working combination of six is made up by recruiting the next dextral from below. This is numbered 7 and the completed movement shown in Fig. 102d.

The last re-arrangement of dextrals besides fixing the turned-down pair of wefts from above, and commencing the top edge, has prepared the place for the next sinistral, C. This is placed in position, Fig. 102e.

The way is now prepared for the next pair of wefts to be disposed of. These must be the sinistral on the left, page 120B, and the highest or top dextral, 2. They are accordingly placed in position, Fig. 102f. Though the dextral, 2, has disappeared from the working combination, another dextral, 8, has appeared below.

In the next crossing of wefts, 3, 5 and 7 will cross over the sinistral, C, with its two superimposed wefts, and 4, 6 and 8 will be raised. In this manner, the taviri technique is continued towards the right. As each sinistral is placed between the two series of dextrals, the left hand sinistral from the top and the top dextral are bent down over it and fixed by the next re-arrangement of dextrals in the check technique. At the right edge the free ends of the last few wefts, which cannot be turned down into the body of the mat, are plaited into a three-ply braid and knotted with an overhand knot. The free ends of the turned down wefts are cut off below the last crossing dextral.

The number of working dextrals may vary. In Fig. 101 they consisted of four and the fringe of cut off weft ends is thus very close to the edge. In Fig. 103, they consist of eight though unfortunately one extra has been turned
Figure 103.The taviri technique shown on a sampler.

Figure 103.
The taviri technique shown on a sampler.

back on the left. The sinistral has been placed in position between the two series of dextrals, and the sinistral which was to the left has been turned downwards from the top along its course. Here, however, there is a slight difference in method. In the method shown in Fig. 102b. the left sinistral was brought directly across in front. In Fig. 103, the left sinistral is passed behind the sinistral on its right and then turned down to lie upon it in its course. This gives a slightly different appearance to the edge. The rest of the technique is identical with that described. This page 121variation is very common in baskets made of rauhara, and the subject is figured under that heading.