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Fragment of Ceremonial Regalia (2)

Tongan: sisi fale

With the fragment of a sisi fale, the Herrnhut Cook collection also owns one of the rare cultural artifacts from the Tongan archipelago that could only have been made by women (koloa). In fact, Cook’s men mostly “collected” tufunga, sturdy wooden objects that were considered the domain of men. However, in the eyes of the Tongans of the time, only women’s creativity in the form of intricate bark bast (ngatu) and filigree wickerwork brought added prestige and mana.

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