Masi : House and cloth of the vanua

Abstract

Based on a combination of literary research and fieldwork this article examines the material and immaterial qualities of Fijian barkcloth, known as masi, to explain the reasons for its continued use in Fijian society from pre-Christian times to the present. It is argued masi embodies all the aspects of the vanua and is therefore referred to as ‘cloth of the vanua’. As cloth of the vanua, masi is a mediating agent between the sacred and profane, and has an important strengthening and protective function when used during life cycle rituals as a wrap. To explain the manners in which masi is used, masi is interpreted as a house for and point of access to the powers of the ancestor gods. An analysis of the overall design structure of a type of masi called gatu taunamu ni viti (Fijian mosquito net) illustrates that the association with a house is metonymic instead of metaphorical.

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