Note: The cross-like flower motifs of the Botanical Museum piece 

 are angled on oblique parallel lines covering its entire surface. 

 Many of the "flowers" are black or black-barred and some are 

 bright orange outlined in black. 



Orange is not listed among characteristic tapa colors in Kooij- 

 man ( 1972, Table E), but it may be assumed that orange might be 

 produced by mixing red and yellow. On the other hand, Bixa 

 Orellana was introduced in the early 1800s into the Pacific (Mer- 

 rill 1954; Brigham 1976), so it could have been used in this case. 

 Bixa Orellana contains two coloring components: orellin (yellow, 

 soluble in water) and bixin (red, soluble in both water and 

 greases) (Kew Bull. 1887, No. 7). Depending on its preparation, 

 B. Orellana may produce cinnabar red, orange, or yellow. 



A third possible source of orange might be turmeric {Curcuma 

 longa) utilized in Polynesia for generations as a yellow dye. The 

 tubers of C. longa produce yellow, yellow-to-orange, red or a 

 reddish-brown colors (Burkill 1935; Hill 1952). The question of 

 dyes — their identities and preparation — is complex in itself. If 

 the reports of observers were consistent, at least a color in ques- 

 tion could be determined. The color of leaf-forms on this tapa, for 

 example, was seen by various observers as pink or even red rather 

 than orange. 



Case412:4'2'/ 2 "X22 1 / 2 "( 128X58 cm); black, brown, brownish red 

 on ecru. "[Its] Futunan provenance cannot possibly be doubted 

 (T.i.P. Fig. 256 0." 



Note: This tapa has a sort of checkerboard pattern. Kooijman 

 (T.i.P. 1972) calls attention to the step-shaped motif seen so 

 frequently on these tapas "that it may be regarded as a 'guide 

 fossil' to borrow a term from geology, to the Futunan origin of the 

 tapas carrying it." He adds that this motif "shows a strong 

 resemblance to patterns formed by weaving and plaiting tech- 

 niques (Figs. 241, 242) for mats." Accepting this resemblance, he 

 speculates with emphatically expressed caution, on the transmis- 

 sion of these patterns to islands where bark cloth was made. He 

 summarizes the possibilities: ". . .it may be said that the salatsi 

 represent an old, traditional form of tapa decoration borrowed 

 from Marshall Islands plaiting patterns and owing its origin to 



68 



