On Tahiti - Buildings Home James Morrison On Tahiti - Exercise & Diversions
Revised May 29 2021
The Dress of Both Sexes is Nearly the same except that the Weomens lower garments are somthing longer then the Mens & being put on in a kind of Neat Negligence, together with the Cleaness of their Clothes, sets them off to great advantage and as they Wash regularly three times a day, they are free from any disagreeable smell, and a stranger suffers nothing but Heat in the Midst of a thousand of them. Their Clothing when put on has some resemblance of that discribed to be the Dress of the Natives of Peru & Chili from whence tis possible that it Might Originaley have Come, as the present Natives of these Islands are known to drive about those seas to the Distance of some hundreds of Leagues and might in all probability have been at first driven from the Continent to these Islands, first to these Near the Continent and afterwards to the more leeward ones.
It Consists of Square Pieces, and the Mens dress is first a long narrow piece Calld Marro which passes between the thighs and round the Waist, one end hanging down near the Knees before and the other being tuckd in behind hangs down in the same manner, serving for Breeches, and is Made either of Cloth or Matting for Dry & Wet Weather—the Oblong Piece of two Yards long and One to half a one Wide, in the Center of which is a Slit to let the Head pass through & hangs down before and behind; this is also of Cloth or Matting and is Calld Teeboota—A square piece doubled so as to pass once & a half round the Middle over the ends of the Teeboota, which is tuckd in on one Hip, and depends as low as the knees, but when worn by Weomen, to the Midi eg or Ancle; this is Calld Parew and round the waist they wear a Sash or Girdle, made of Braided hair & wrought into Network calld Tamow—all these are Common to both Sexes, except the Marro which the Weomen never wear but when they are fishing or at wrestling when they are in danger of having their Parew hauld off—in lieu of the Marro they Wear a Shorter Parew by way of an inside petticoat and a large pi[e]ce of Cloth by way of a Cloak consisting of several fathoms folded up in a square—Over their eyes they wear a kind of shade like the fore part of a Bonnet made of Cocoa Nut leaves, which they weave in a few Minutes & Change several times in a day, as they never Carry one of them over sacred Ground; for these Shades, which they call Tow Matta (the same name they Give our hats), they prefer the Yellow leaves to the Green and are proud to get one of that kind, tho perhaps they must tear it in pieces in half an hour after they have made it, and look for another—these and Garlands of Flowers are the only things they ever Wear on their Heads, except at Heivas, and then none can wear any thing on their heads, but the performers, who wear a kind of Turban; evry other person must be uncovered in presence of a Chief—in War or Mourning the Men may wear Turbans and Other head dresses made of Wickerwork Covered & decorated With Feathers and Breastplates of the same work Ornamented with Dogs hair, Pearl shells, Sharks teeth & Red & Black feathers, Garlands of Feathers &c.—
The Heiva Dress shall be discribed in its place—they have also Garlands for Mourning Made of the fibers of the Cocoa Nut Curiously platted in which they fix the Finger Nails of their departed friends, with bits of Pearl shells cut into many forms and of these they are particularly Careful. The Children of both Sexes go Naked till they are 5 or 6 Years old and at about 13 or 14 the Males Cut their foreskin, not from any religious Custom but from a Notion of Cleanlyness, it being only split on the upper part with a sharks tooth, and after the Blood is stopt by putting ashes on the wound it is suffered to get well as it may & nothing more being applyd is somtimes a Month or more before it gets well tho their Flesh in general heals quick. This, like the Tattowing or puncturing their hips &c., is at their own option, but a person who is deficient of either is reproachd and told of it in Public and it is as bad to want these Marks as it would be among us not to be Christened or to go Naked, tho some want both—They have their Tattowing begun about the same age and both these Offices are performed by a particular set of men who make it a Trade and subsist partly by it always getting well paid for their Work.
The Instruments used for the Tattowing are made of Hogs tusks fixed to a handle in form of a hoe, the Instruments being of different sizes having from 3 to 36 teeth about one eighth of an inch long; these they strike in with a little Paddle made for the Purpose. When they Tattow or Puncture the skin they dip the teeth of the Instrumentinto a Mixture of Soot (prepared from the Candle Nut) & Water, which being Struck in to the skin leaves the Mark of a Black or Blueish Collour.
With this the Hips of Both sexes are Markd with four or five Arched lines on each side, the Upermost taking the whole sweep of the Hip from the Hip bone to the Middle of the Back where the two lines Meet on one, which is drawn right a Cross from one hip bone to the other and on this all the other lines begin and end; under this Center line are generally four or five more, sweeping down wards, but Most Weomen have that part blackd all over with the Tattowing—but evry one pleases their own fancy in the Number of lines or the Fashion of them, some making only one broad one while others have 5 or 6 small ones ornamented with stars & sprigs &c. They also mark their feet, legs, thighs, arms &c. but the Weomen never mark higher then their Ancle, and few mark their Arms, having only some fancy Spots on their hands, it being accounted foolishness to have any other Marks except those on the Posteriors, feet & hands but in men it is taken no notice of. The tools used for the first time on a Chief or the heir of a large family must be destroyd as soon as they are done with, and deposited in the Morai and when all the Amoas (except those of Marriage or freindship) are performd they receive a small spot on inside of each Arm Just above the bend of the Elbow which signifies that they are free to eat and drink of their parents food & that Contrary their parents may eat of theirs; this Mark they Never receive till these rites are performd, nor is it always done, at the time of the last being performd.
The Tattowing is performd at the pleasure of the Partys who have it done and will not suffer the performer to leave off while they can bear a stroke, tho they make such lamentation while they endure the pain that a stranger would suppose it was doing against their will and that they were forced to suffer it contrary to their Inclination. The young females are more remarkable for bearing it then the Males tho they cannot suffer more then one side to be done at a time and the other may remain perhaps for a Twelvemonth after before it is finishd, till which time they never Conceive themselves Company for Weomen—being only Counted as Children till they have their Tattowing done—While the Girls are having it done they are always attended by some of their female relations who hold them while they strugle with the Pain and keep their Cloaths from being kikd off and should they from their tears draw pity on themselves and the person who holds them should perswade them to leave off they are often in such a passion as to strike even their Mother if she should happen to be performing that office, which she must not return on pain of Death—they often suffer so much to be done at once (through their Pride it being a disgrace to give out till one side is finishd) as throws them into a fever.
On Tahiti - Buildings Home James Morrison On Tahiti - Exercise & Diversions