Fase de gestión del cambio

The second step in the preparation of pandanus leaves, usually done in the household yard, is to roll the leaf strips to transform them into pandanus leaf ribbons. This is a common preparation method for pandanus across the regions where it is used in basketry. On Futuna, coming straight from the tree, pandanus leaves often have their sides curled inward, hiding dirt and a host of insects, notably caterpillars, and so rolling pandanus leaf strips therefore involves cleaning leaves as well. A pandanus leaf strip is rolled around the index and middle finger, with the thumb used to hold the roll tight and to keep it from unravelling. Leaves are rolled with their top edge, the waxier,

weatherproof edge, on the outside of the roll. This is also the side that when dry, curls in on itself and hides insects and dirt, see Figure 21. As the strip is progressively rolled up around the fingers, it is straightened, cleaned and softened between the thumb and the index fingers of the other hand, see Figure 23.

Rolling pandanus leaves is vital preparation for its use as a craft material:

“We don’t want it to roll up when you weave. We roll it…you must roll it to make it soft.”47 _{Seieke 01.06.15}

47 _{“Mifala i no wantem se bei yu wif, hemi rol up long yu. Mifala i rolem… yu must rolem long mekem se i}

114 Rolling pandanus serves the same purpose as that of straightening it, see below. The two activities stretch the inner structure of a leaf and in doing so, make the leaf strip soft, malleable and responsive to the hand’s movements. When soft, leaves will not only lie flat and not roll back on themselves, but they will be easier to handle.

The weather changes how rolling pandanus leaves is experienced: too dry and the sides of the strips curl in on themselves; too humid and the strips become soft and roll themselves up. When the leaves curl in on their sides, the cleaning and rolling process becomes slightly more difficult and time consuming as care is needed. In contrast, when the leaves are soft with humidity, the rolling process will be too easy and the internal structure of the leaf will not be sufficiently stretched to soften the leaf strip up in the long term. Once rolled, a humid ribbon is also more prone to mildew.

Around the Pacific, several authors have commented on when and where women work pandanus, but there is a direct relationship between these issues. On the one hand, cool, damp weather provides the ideal conditions for working pandanus (Godin 2003, Kelly 1999, 234): Brigham (1906, 29) mentions a visit to Puna in 1864 where he saw

Hawaiian women working pandanus mats in caves, describing the “comparative coolness and dampness” as beneficial to their work. On the other hand, the early mornings and evenings are the preferred time of day for pandanus work. Walter (1984) and Were (2013, 594) cite the evening as a favoured time to work pandanus after the evening meal when the work of the day has been finished and family members sit together and talk into the night, whilst Keller (1988) explains that women on Futuna will work pandanus at dawn and dusk to leave the day free for other tasks.

Although it is certainly true that women are generally busy with other work during the daytime and so often only have time to work pandanus in the early morning or evening when there is not enough light for other work, dawn and dusk are also the times of day when the weather conditions are most suitable for working pandanus. The sun will not dry up the pandanus ribbons and the air is relatively humid. The pandanus is therefore soft enough to be easily manipulated and not only is plaiting therefore easier, but a finer plait can be achieved. Neglecting to suitably prepare pandanus leaves by rolling then straightening them before their use leads to very rough plaiting that is ‘full of holes’ as

115 the pandanus resists manipulation (Knappett 2007, Malafouris 2008). I therefore

distinguish between leaf strips and leaf ribbons according to their level of preparation.

“Weather like this is good…the pandanus is good…I’m happy to weave. The rain just now means that the pandanus is soft. The sun

makes pandanus strong.”48 _{Papra 02.07.15}

The reality of working pandanus on Futuna does not however always allow people the luxury of sticking to the most suitable time of day and weather conditions for plaiting. Large or last-minute commissions sometimes mean that women rush to complete their work in time, spending whole days and nights at the task and even working on Sundays. Many women will therefore end up working their pandanus in the heat of the midday sun, when the pandanus ribbons are crisp with dryness and rustle as they touch each other, like fallen leaves. The ribbons are hard and resist at every step; they are quite literally strong, as they are described in Bislama. Strong ribbons are difficult to work with and result in loose plaits and paper cuts. Indeed, the sound and softness of pandanus ribbons is an important indicator of the correct conditions for working pandanus.

Pandanus work on Futuna is not a communal, public activity as has been described elsewhere in the Pacific (Brigham 1906, Herda 1999). However rolling pandanus leaf strips is boring, relentless work and so it is not uncommon for women to take a small bundle of leaves to community events to work on them while waiting around whilst cooking, for example. To occupy their own hands, women will frequently lend a hand in preparing somebody else’s pandanus at these events, but also during neighbourly visits, they are quick to pick up pandanus leaves and roll a few strips while talking. Rolling pandanus, unlike plaiting pandanus, requires little concentration and is ideally done with others to help make the work go quicker. In addition, as rolling pandanus strips is only a preliminary step in the preparation of the leaves for plaiting, the combination of many hands does not change the appearance or affect the finished plaited work in any way.

48 _{“Taem olsem i gud nao…pandanas i gud…mi glad long wif. Rain naia i mekem se pandanas i sofsof.}

116 This is not the case in a plaited mat or basket, where irregularities in the plait are said to show up as tell-tale signs.