Journal of Undergraduate Research
Keywords
contemporary, bark cloth, Tonga, Tongan women, mulberry tree, making cloth
College
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Abstract
Thousands of years ago the ancestors of the Tongan people brought with them a tree that would harvest bark prime for making cloth. Since then, Tongan women have exploited the resources of the paper mulberry tree (Broussonetia papyrifera) to produce a bark cloth they term ngatu. Today, fewer and fewer women make ngatu, yet, all women are perpetually in need of it since the cloth itself socially, ceremonially, and sometimes economically supports their lives. Women work endlessly to produce and give this honored fabric due to ingrained feelings of duty to fulfill cultural norms that retard change and leave no room for threats of ngatu’s extinction.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Kirstin M. and Hartley, Dr. Julie
(2013)
"Contemporary Bark Cloth of Tonga: A Manifestation of Tongan Women and Society,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 2013:
Iss.
1, Article 95.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/jur/vol2013/iss1/95