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The Material Culture of the Cook Islands (Aitutaki)

Wooden Vessels, kumete

Wooden Vessels, kumete.

The term kumete, as applied to wooden food vessels, is widely spread throughout Polynesia. It is found in New Zealand. In Hawaii, owing to the peculiar letter changes that have occurred in the dialect, it is found in the form of umeke. In Aitutaki, the kumete is found in three forms, kumete roroa, kumete taupupu, and paroe.

Figure 47.—Kumete roroa.

Figure 47.—Kumete roroa.

Kumete roroa. This is the typical form found throughout the Cook Group. One diameter is much longer than the other, hence roroa, long. One end is beaked. Fig. 47.

Figure 48.—Dimensions of kumete roroa.

Figure 48.—Dimensions of kumete roroa.

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The measurements of a typical kumete roroa are shown in Fig. 48. Some are very large. The bottom is flattened. They are usually without legs, though some may have four short legs as in Fig. 47.

Figure 49.Kumete taupupu.

Figure 49.
Kumete taupupu.

Kumete taupupu. In this type, the vessel is round, taupupu. Some of my informants maintain that the round kumete was a foreign introduction, but others held that it was native to Aitutaki. See Fig. 49.

Figure 50.Dimensions of kumete taupupu.

Figure 50.
Dimensions of kumete taupupu.

The dimensions of a typical vessel are shown in Fig. 50. It will be seen that there are two projections from the rim which serve as handles. One of them is grooved for pouring out liquids.

Figure 51.Paroe, large wooden vessel.

Figure 51.
Paroe, large wooden vessel.

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Paroe. The paroe was a much larger vessel than the ordinary kumete class. Fig. 51. It was used for making large quantities of food for feasts. It was also used for mixing dyes for staining bark cloth and also for storing water.

Figure 52.Dimensions of paroe.

Figure 52.
Dimensions of paroe.

The dimensions of a large paroe at Vaipae are shown in Fig. 52.

All kumete were made of tamanu wood and were cut out of the solid. They are used as dishes in which to mix up the various compounds of arrowroot, taro, breadfruit, etc., which figured so largely in the diet of the islands.