CLOTHES FROM TREES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 74, 17 January 1947, Page 6

CLOTHES FROM TREES

COATS OF BARK HEADGEAR OF CANE The island of Celebes, a thousand miles from Java, could show to the curious post-war tourist—but may he never reach the spot!—some of those customs which we usually associate with bygone days and primitive peoples. There the people, in the interior more especially, are still expert wood-craftsmen. They inhabit a mountainous jungle district where, only a few short years ago, the cry-cast terror into the hearts of more timid inhabitants.

The people are animists, that is, they believe in the existence of spirits which inhabit water, the sun, the earth, stones, trees, and so on, v and which are believed to be ill-disposed toward mankind. These spirits must therefore be appeased by sacrifices, and until a few years ago raids were made by one tribe upon another, villages burned, and people beheaded. The heads of the victims were then buried in the ground under the floor of the temple as a sacrifice to the angry gods. Just prior to the war, however, a happier state of affairs existed, alhough cases were occasionally heard of murder being committed in order that the sacrifice of a human head might be made. Of the more innocent and primitive customs, however, much still remains. Many of the people grow their own clothes! Their attire is made of bark stripped from trees, boiled in water, and beaten with stones. The coarser sort comes from the great forest trees; but for the better qualities the natives grow bushes in their gardens, from which a fine bark can be stripped and beaten into the required consistency for “Sunday” suits. The absence of bark, however, does not unduly worry the true Celebean; he can manage with an ocldment any day.

The women wear head-dresses of woven cane, something like big table napkin ring's, by means of which their coarse hair is kept in place. Some of these head-pieces which vary in size—probably according to the vanity of the wearer —bear curious designs. Backward in many respects ac-coi-ding to our standard, Celebes can teach us something in the way of honesty. Out there the tired bearer of a burden is not compelled to struggle on in the agony of weariness. He can drop his load where he likes, and, by placing a twig or small branch on it, -ensure its being where he left it whenever he cares to return. The twig stands instead of a “Private Property” notice, and no one ignores its implied order. Property has remained thus labelled for weeks before the owner has returned to it.

The Celebians are splendid rope bridge-builders. Numbers of swiftrunning rivers intersect the jungles, and these are crossed by means of bridges made of the rattan “canes” which abound.

Some of these swaying bridges have been in existence many years, the necessary repairs being undertaken by the natives, who are skilled in their construction. The bridges are sometimes slung between trees on either side of the stream, a grass rope thrown across being the first link between the banks. This form of bridge makes horse or car riding impossible. The traveller must trek it in the approved scouting fashion, along narrow tracks just wide enough for one to walk, and often reeling giddily over steep inclines and plunging down slopes of breathless gradient. The fortunate traveller comes to a “bush hotel” at the end of the day’s journey. If he is unlucky, he promptly builds one. It consists of a roof of palm leaves supported by branches and providing adequate accommodation from rain—the only night enemy of serious importance apart from snakes.