Samoan Mats.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 472, 17 May 1890, Page 5

Samoan Mats.

Among the curious customs of the Samoan people is that of making heirlooms of mats. By some simple process of reasoning the mat has come to be identified with the family, as the hearthstone is traditionally sacred among the Saxon race. Mr Cooper writes : If there is one thing about which the Samoans boast it is their mats, and they are really fine specimens of art; in fact, the people esteem them more highly than any article of European manufacture, and the older they are, the more they are regarded. Some of them have names known all over the group. The oldest is called Moe-e-Fui-Fui, or ‘ The mat that has slept among the creepers ! It got this title from its having been hidden away for years among the creeping convolvulus that grows wild along the seashore. It is known to be two hundred years old, as the names of its owners during that long time can be traced. The possession of ono of these old mats gives the owner great power ; in fact, it is a title-deed to rank and property. It is no matter if the mats are tattered and worn out; their antiquity is their value, and for some of the most cherished of them, five hundred dollars would be scornfully refused.