W.A.L.T... Write using aspects of an information report structure. Identify the significance of Ngatu in the Tongan culture. What I enjoyed about this piece of writing was researching information. What I found hard was writing it out and finishing it off. Maybe next time I could try and finish it off.
Ngatu - Tapu clothes
What is a Ngatu cloth? A Ngatu cloth is something that is made in many other cultures around the world. Some women from Tonga are trying to keep the tradition alive for Tonga.
What is Ngatu used for and what is it significance? Ngatu is used for many different things in Tonga. Ngatu can be used for weddings, birthdays, funerals, mats and many different occasions. The significance of Ngatu in Tonga is very important because they use Ngatu for mostly everything.
How the Ngatu is made. There are many steps to making ngatu, here is how to make it. After the hiapo is cut down girls will peel the bark from the tree, then they will hang the bark out on a line to dry in the sun. After that they soak the dry bark in water to make it soft. Then they beat the bark with a wooden tool called ike to make it thinner and wider. Then they will but the bark back out in the sun to dry again. The strips of dry flat bark are called feta’aki. Next you will lay a white cloth on top of the tabletop, the white cloth will be backing for your ngatu, once you have done that then you will have to line the ngatu along the tabletop of the backing material. Then paste the edges with of the feta’aki to the backing material. After that they cover the backing material with paste, then they carefully lay the feta’aki over the top of the backing material. Next they will press the two pieces together and slowly roll it up. Then after that they carry the ngatu outside and roll it out on the concrete so that it can dry in the sun. When it is dry they will paint the ngatu with some brown dye, using a piece of feta’aki as a brush. This is what the finished product should look like:
Tongan vocabulary
feta‘aki: the dried pieces of the beaten bark
hiapo: the paper mulberry tree (known as “aute” to Māori)
ike: a wooden tool for beating the ngatu
ngatu: the Tongan word for tapa
tutu: the bark used to make ngatu
Hi Atalina,
ReplyDeleteI understand that you haven't done a lot of work, same with me. But at least you've did something instead of having nothing.Maybe next time you should work faster. Other than that, good luck.
Hi Nathan,
DeleteThank you for responding to my post. I will try and finish my work and update it as much as I can. Thank you Nathan for feedback.
- Atalina