String Figures

Hornell (16, pp. 71-76) collected six string figures in Samoa during his brief stay at Apia in spite of being assured by Europeans that string figures were unknown to the Samoans. Subsequently I was informed, evidently by the same people, that Hornell had collected some string figures, but that they had been introduced into Samoa by Europeans. As, however, I had already collected a few additional ones in the most remote village of the Manuan group, the statement had no ethnological weight. The European opening of string figures, and the Polynesian opening, are distinctly different from each other. All the Samoan figures collected, except a trick figure, had the orthodox Polynesian opening. That Europeans should teach Samoans the Polynesian methods of making string figures is a paradox that our European informants had evidently not considered, else the theory of European introduction had never been made.

If an excuse for imparting unverified information is to be made, it is in the fact that the Samoans have not retained many figures, though as Hornell found, the few are widely known. Hornell's natural surmise after his success in Apia that further inquiry would be richly repaid has not been realized by me. Nine unrecorded figures were obtained besides three of those recorded by Hornell. Careful inquiries in various villages failed to add to the number. Though there must be other figures, I doubt if there are many. Samoa seems poorer in string figures than other parts of Polynesia, or has forgotten more. The generic name has evidently been forgotten for the game is known as vaepato (duck's foot) after the most widely known figure.

Terminology. The terms used follow Rivers and Haddon (26, pp. 146-153) where radial and ulnar refer to the thumb and little finger sides of the hand and distal and proximal to the finger tip and wrist ends respectively.

Position 1 is with the string looped over the thumb and little finger of each hand with the string passing over the palm between them.

Opening A, the orthodox Polynesian opening, is made by inserting the index fingers proximally under the palmar strings of the opposite hands and withdrawing them with index loops.

The term navahoing, introduced by Haddon and followed by Hornell, Handy, and others, consists of slipping the proximal of two loops over the tips of the fingers holding them.

Duck's feet (fa'avae pato). This figure was obtained in three ways, one being like Hornell's (16, p. 72) and the other two slightly different to each other.

page 558

First Variation

1.	Opening A.
2.	Transfer the thumb loops to the middle fingers, the fingers passing distal to the ulnar string and proximal to the radial.
3.	Pass the little fingers distal into the middle finger loops and pick up the radial strings of the little finger loops by passing under them from the ulnar side.
4.	Navaho the little fingers, release the index fingers and extend. The figure was obtained at Fitiuta, Tau, from the girl Poina.

Second Variation

1.	Commencement A with the middle fingers.
2.	Transfer the middle finger loop to the thumbs by passing the thumbs proximal under the radial strings of the middle finger loops. Figure 297.—String figure, vae pato (duck's feet); variation obtained from a girl, Lila, at Fangamelo, Savaii. In forming commencement (a) she took the loop on the middle instead of the index finger.
3.	The thumb has now two loops. Transfer the proximal loop to the middle fingers by passing the middle fingers distally over the distal loop and under the radial strings of the proximal loop from the ulnar side. The loops are lifted up over the thumbs and distal loops on the backs of the middle fingers.
4.	Pass the little fingers distal into the middle finger loop and pick up its own radial strings by passing under it from the ulnar side.
5.	Navaho the little fingers, release the thumbs and extend. The last two movements are the same as in the previous except for releasing the thumb.

No Name

1.	Position 1 with the strings crossed.
2.	Opening A.
3.	Movement 2 in previous figure.
4.	Movement 3 in previous figure. This results in three loops from either hand crossed in the middle.

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Laulau

1.	Opening A.
2.	Drop the thumb loops.
3.	Transfer the little finger loops to the index fingers by passing the index fingers into them proximally. Figure 299.—String figure, laulau (food platter) obtained at Fitiuta.
4.	Pass the thumbs distally over the radial string of the proximal index loop and pick up the ulnar string on their backs.
5.	Repeat 4 with the distal index loops.
6.	There are two strings on the radial side of the index. Pass the ring fingers distally over the distal string and pick up the proximal string on their backs.
7.	Navaho the thumbs.

Pili Me'Ime'I

1.	Opening A.
2.	Pick up the ulnar strings of the little finger loop with the backs of the index fingers by passing them distal to the radial strings and proximal to the ulnar strings.
3.	Remove the thumb loops with the backs of the index fingers by passing them through it distally and picking up the radial strings from the proximal side. Figure 300.—String figure, pili me'ime'i (shrinking lizard) obtained at Fitiuta. page 560
4.	Rotate the hands downwards so that the index fingers rotate round a transverse axis. In doing so, they pass round the lower strings and bring them up to the top on the radial side of the indices. By continuing the rotation with the indices turned slightly inwards, they pass above the strings. Be careful not to drop the little finger loop.
5.	The figure is worked up and down by pressure with the little finger loop.

Ati

1.	Position 1.
2.	Opening A, with the left index finger alone.
3.	The right index and middle fingers pass on either side of the ulnar string of the left index loop and pass proximally under the left palmar string to return with it.
4.	The left middle finger passes proximally under the right palmar string where it crosses the base of the right middle finger and returns with a loop. Figure 301.—String figure, ati (no meaning giving) obtained at Fitiuta.
5.	The thumbs pass proximally under the radial strings of the little finger loops and pick them up on their backs.
6.	The little fingers pick up the ulnar strings of the thumbs by passing proximally under them.
7.	The index fingers are passed down through the triangles formed by the index loops and the double strings which cross them.
8.	The middle fingers are passed down through their own loops on the mesial side of the double transverse cords which cross them.
9.	The index and ring fingers are turned with the palmar surfaces outwards and all other finger loops dropped.

Mongamonga

1.	Position 1 with the right hand, give the main loop one twist and take up Position 1 with the left hand.
2.	Opening A.
3.	Hold the hands with the fingers upwards. It will be observed that the ulnar strings on the little fingers and the radial strings from the thumbs cross at a lower level than the other two crossings. Of the other two crossings on the higher level, one is ulnar and the other radial. page 561 Figure 302.—String figure, mongamonga (cockroach) obtained at Fitiuta. An assistant passes the right forefinger above the ulnar crossing, below the lowest crossing, and above the radial crossing.
4.	The index finger loops are slipped. The assistant's finger which represents a cockroach is caught as the hands are drawn apart.

Ipu

1.	Opening A.
2.	Slip the index loop of either hand back over the whole hand to rest on the back of the wrists. This is done by passing the middle ring and little fingers up proximally through the index loop and then the thumbs.
3.	Pass both thumbs proximally under the radial strings of the little finger loops and bring the strings up on their backs.
4.	Pass the little fingers proximally under the ulnar strings of the thumbs and lift them up on their backs. Figure 303.—String figure, ipu (cup) obtained at Fitiuta.
5.	An assistant hooks a forefinger round the strings which cross at the middle by passing the finger laterally from palm to palm and holds the strings down.
6.	The thumbs and little fingers are removed from the loops round them, the wrist loops are dropped and the thumbs and little fingers reinserted in their previous loops.page 562
7.	The assistant pulls down and the player tightens the loop which results in the cup figure.

Continuations from ipu figure: a, laulau—before assistant lets go, she holds the two middle strings running antero-posteriorly which results in a figure called laulau; b, fa'amavaenga—the assistant lets go and the figures run or separate (fa'amavaenga).

Fale Sa

	By two players.
1.	Opening A by both.
2.	The first player passes both hands through the index finger loop of the second player who drops the index finger loop over the first player's wrists before he withdraws.
3.	The second player now passes both his hands through the index finger loops of the first player who in turn drops his index finger loops over the second player's wrists before he withdraws. Figure 304.—String figure, fale sa (church) made by two players. Obtained at Fitiuta.
4.	The second player turns his hands so that his strings are vertical whilst the first player holds his hands horizontal to make his strings cross the others transversely.
5.	The first player removes his fingers and wrists and wraps his strings transversely round the vertical strings held by the second player. He rolls the wrapped strings between his palms as by-play.
6.	The second player places his hands horizontally with the fingers up. page 563The first player takes the thumb and little finger loops from the right hand of the second player who drops the wrist loop.
7.	The second player takes the little finger loop and the thumb loop from his left hand with his right free hand, drops the wrist loop, and then takes one of the loops with his left freed hand.
8.	Both players pull on their loops with their thumbs and the loose wrapped string straightens out into the figure. The girls demonstrating the figure sometimes made mistakes by getting the wrong order. It was interesting to note that they really thought the wrapping and rubbing of one string round the other was necessary to success. When the figure was purposely done without wrapping and rubbing, their surprise was unbounded. In addition to Hornell's method of the vaepato (16, pp. 71, 72, 75) the fiti figure and the moenga were obtained.