Rev. J. B. Stair on Siapo. 



39 



sometime after, tlie use of siapo as an article of dress was confined to a few unmarried 

 females of the highest rank, O Taiisala, titled ladies ; all others being prohibited from 

 wearing it upon pain of heavy chastisement. The privileged few only wore it in the 

 house. For a long time past the rule has been broken through, and siapo is now 

 worn by all persons of either sex." '"^ 



In regard to the colors used he tells us: — "A beautiful crimson was obtained 

 by mixing the inner bark of the roots of the noun fi^afi'a^ Malay apple {Ettgenia via- 

 laccensis), with sea-water and lime. Yellow was prepared from turmeric and oil. It was 

 also obtained from the bark of the iioiiii previousl3^ mentioned. A fine purple was 

 procured from the young shoots of the mountain plantain, soa^a; and a brown by mix- 



FIG. l5. A CARVED WOODEN SI<AB FOR PRINTING SIAPO. 



ing the inner bark of the paiii with sea-water. A black colour was imparted to various 

 articles by burying them in the soft mud of a taro patch." Loc. cif.^ p. 145. 



Mr. Mason Mitchel, the American Consul at Apia (German Samoa), was 

 so obliging as to write me about the dyes now used bj' the Samoans. The brown 

 (Pis. 24-27) is obtained from the o^aa {Bischofia javanica^^ a tree of some size. The 

 red dye is now made from the seeds of the arnotto {Bixa orcllaiia^ in the usual way, 

 and the black is from the burned candle-nut. 



Samoan siapo is largely imported into the Hawaiian Islands and sold to tour- 

 ists, often as Hawaiian. It is often decorated by having the edges cut into triangiilar 

 dentils or into fringe, as shown in Pis. 23, 28. In former times in Samoa several 

 guilds were engaged in the siapo-making, as the Fajijic fa i siapo = s\3.T^o-ra2i\iGr\ 

 Fai lenga = preparer of turmeric ; Tutu lama = maker of lampblack, etc. 



'''Old Samoa, by Rev. John B. Stair. Oxford, 1.S97. p. 115. 



