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The trope of ‘darkness’ and ‘light’ that was developed by missionaries to differentiate between pre-Christian and Christian ways of life in Vanuatu was added to and

complicated during colonisation as a new division became apparent: the way of the white man was clearly different from the way of the black man. Frequently discussed in these terms, fasin blong waetman, fasin blong blakman, the local ‘black man’ way of

life became known in Bislama as kastom. In practice, skin colour is however no longer a defining characteristic of a person’s way of life and Melanesians living in town are often said to live like, if not be, white people (Bashkow 2006).

The concept of kastom developed in opposition to the white man’s ways and played a particularly important role in the fight for independence as it was felt that the colonial governments had disrupted normal practice (Jolly 1992a, 340). Initially a concept linked tightly to land, politics and therefore male areas of life in Vanuatu, kastom has become a term that encompasses a way of living and acting (Bolton 2003a). The changing nature of the term is due in large part to the New Hebrides National Party and the work of the VKS. In the 1970s, the New Hebrides National Party presented a unique combination of church, education and kastom ways and promoted this as a uniting identity for ni-

Vanuatu. This re-configuration and suggestion that kastom and Christian beliefs are not antithetical is now a guiding principle of Vanuatu’s constitution. At the same time, as mentioned in the Introduction, the VKS initiated an Oral Traditions Project in the 1970s to document and revive aspects of pre-Christian culture (Bolton 2003a). The program grew in size and scope and developed into the VKS fieldworker program where trainees conduct research on their local islands and meet once a year to discuss the outcomes of their work, select a research focus for the following year, and undergo further training. Fieldworkers actively reflect on the nature of kastom, its uses and its possibilities

70 (Bolton 2007). Kastom has therefore become a positive force in Vanuatu and is a

defining feature of what it is to be ni-Vanuatu (Regenvanu 2005). The politics of the term in Vanuatu and neighbouring countries has been the focus of much anthropological analysis, see for instance collections by Keesing and Tonkinson (1982) and Jolly and Thomas (1992).

This re-appraisal of kastom means that it is now a valuable system and a resource. Bolton describes it as “the knowledge and practice of the place” (Bolton 2007, 35). Intimately connected to land and place, kastom arises from the local ways of doing things and so can incorporate innovations and changes as the way of the place changes. Crucially for this discussion, as noted above, kastom is now a concept that is as

applicable to women’s activities as to men’s. Women’s work, notably in the arenas of handicrafts, has become not only validated as kastom, but also valued as such. The Women’s Culture Project brought women’s work into the limelight in Vanuatu, but it in particular showed that pandanus work was a highly skilled occupation with important connections to the spiritual and the prestigious aspects of social life: it was to be valued as a significant aspect of kastom. It is therefore perhaps not a coincidence that the

intense development of two aspects of pandanus work described below, kastom dres and baskets, have coincided with the revival in interest in past practices that marked the fight for independence (Jolly 1992a, 341).

2.3.1.1 Kastom Dres

The changes to kastomdres (traditional clothing) on Futuna demonstrate the creative side of kastom and highlight the multiple and varied origins that make up the way of life and practices of people on the island. What is important to people on Futuna is shown in their kastom dres, a visible ‘social past’ (Schapera, 1962 in Hirsch & Stewart, 2005, p. 268). Contemporary kastom dres therefore expresses an idealised view of the past, in line with the mores and needs of the present as people break with the present (Dousset 2018) to appropriate the future. It is a reclamation of history through local means; where other Pacific Islanders use dance and poetic texts (Hermann 2005, Stillman 2001), or re- make grave inscriptions (Lannoy 2005), women on Futuna use pandanus work.

71 On Futuna in 2015, women’s kastom dres was composed of ‘grass’ skirts made of

burao and a plaited pandanus vest-like top; men wore knee-length plaited pandanus textiles decorated with burao fringes and wiri-wiri (over the shoulder pandanus and

burao sashes). This is very different from the nambas and ‘grass’ skirts worn by men and women respectively before Christianity became widely adopted; clothing that was complemented by shell necklaces and earrings for both genders. This clothing was rarely mentioned during fieldwork; women only remarked on the range of skirt types used by their ancestors, which were made from either banana leaf fibres, burao or pandanus leaves depending on the occasion and were twinned together rather than plaited. Christian ideas of prudery and colonial ideas of sexualised bodies (Reed 1997) have been embraced within a form of clothing that previously shocked missionaries for its minimal coverage of the body, but this clothing has also been developed and

enhanced to suit its new use as performance attire. Kastom dres is rarely worn on Futuna itself as people living on Futuna don’t feel the need to wear it and express their identity visually; they say that unlike people in town, they are connected to their past through their way of life. It is a view of kastom as the practices of a place and in particular as a way of living that is defined in contrast to European ways. Jolly also notes this in discussing the authenticity of kastom: the village is deemed more authentic by islanders than the town (Jolly 1992b, 57).

In 1974, Queen Elizabeth II visited Vanuatu and celebrations were put on for her in Port Vila as well as on Espiritu Santo and on Pentecost Islands, which she also visited. The first Futuna stringband based on Tanna were asked to perform in the capital (Fitzgerald and Hayward 2009). Men’s kastomdres was altered for these performances; dancers wore knee length tasselled plaited pandanus textiles to fit in with the fashions of the time and to emphasise their dance movements (Keller and Kuautonga 2007, 87-8). In 1979 too, the first National Arts Festival was held in Port Vila and the National Council of Women funded the participation of six women from Futuna. Seieke remembered the preparations as she was asked to perform a kastom danis with her friends to represent Futuna Island. The women were critically aware of the need to cover their breasts for this public occasion and so devised bra-like plaited pandanus tops to complement their grass skirts. In both occasions, it was felt that kastom dres should reflect the mores of

72 the island and the clothing became both more covering and more spectacular, in a sense using kastom dres “not just as expressions of a new context, but technologies that

created that context anew” (N. Thomas 2003, 94).

Futuna Island dancers have gone on to skilfully build up a reputation for themselves with both tourists within Vanuatu and tourism professionals around the world as they have moulded a place for themselves as representatives of Vanuatu. The all-male Futunese dance group Futuna Fatuana hold regular concerts and shows in Vanuatu, but frequently travel further afield to represent Vanuatu on a larger stage: for example at the Universal Exhibition hosted by Milan in 2015. Kastom dres worn by these performers demonstrates a clear understanding of what is expected by tourists, with natural fibres, brightly coloured nylon string and dyed or painted cloth used to great effect to make three different types of costume that resonate with tourist concepts of tradition and an island paradise. Plaited pandanus skirts and wiri-wiri (over the shoulder sashes) are plaited with pandanus and decorated with a frill of burao tassels that sway with the dancers. Fluorescent nylon grass skirts are used in other dances, with similar decorations tied around the biceps and calf muscles; but singers also wear ‘island shirts’, brightly patterned shirts, to represent a more contemporary, idealised aspect of life in the country.

Although the Futuna diaspora on Efate and Tanna islands have captured the tourist market through their kastom villages and performers, kastom dres, as previously

mentioned, is rarely worn on Futuna itself. Indeed matching ‘uniforms’ of calico, island shirts or island dresses28 _{are favoured for local celebrations on the island whether}

directly church related or not: kastom dres is only used by people on Futuna when looking outwards, beyond their own island. Uniforms highlight the unity of a group and so within Futuna, smaller-scale identities are more important. It is when looking beyond

28_{See Bolton (2005) and Paini (2003a) for discussions on the history and contemporary role of island}

73 the island that people feel the need to visually express their island identity and bring attention to their ancestors, their skills and expertise.

During my fieldwork, kastomdres was only worn twice on Futuna: once at the Agriclimaptation Festival in the closing ceremony which featured kastom danis and music and once during graduation at Ishia secondary school. The graduation ceremony is remarkable as in contrast to the graduation uniform of other schools in the country and the overarching importance of island affinity in the country, at Ishia all students wear kastom dres in the Futuna style irrespective of where they are from. Students come from Futuna and its neighbouring islands and in a contemporary version of the trade partners that existed before the arrival of Christianity, students are paired up with host families on the island with food, gifts and care being exchanged. Close relationships are developed between families and graduation is a visual demonstration of the new

alliances created as students parade around the school in their adopted island’s kastom dres.

Contemporary kastom dres is therefore used as a visual representation of Futuna to outsiders. It is designed to demonstrate the creativity, skill and the wealth of Futuna in the present and in the past and so less is definitely not more here. The graduation parade is in fact treated by pandanus workers as a fashion show. Crop tops for girls are

particularly elaborate and women experiment with a variety of complicated straps, styles, patterns, designs and text to make the tops extra special and unique.

Kastom dres has come a long way from that worn in early missionary photos. It has been transformed to fit changing ideas of propriety and has been elaborated to visually demonstrate an idealised view of Futuna and its past to outsiders. This clothing is

kastom and will clearly remain kastom as further alterations are made; innovative practice in pandanus work is itself kastom. This is clearly seen if we consider recent changes in pandanus baskets on Futuna.

74 Figure 7. Graduating students parading at Ishia.

75 2.3.1.2 Baskets and Large-Scale Tourism

Although this chapter has highlighted a number of forms of tourism both originating in Futuna or concluding in Futuna, tourism at a large scale has only developed recently, with an exponential increase in numbers visiting Vanuatu in the last three or four decades. Pandanus workers on Futuna have ensured that their artefacts are widely available in these markets and as discussed in relation to kastom dres,womenhave a keen awareness of the interests and needs of their customers, are responsive to feedback and are aware of trends. Creativity in pandanus work, which sees incremental changes, has been “a strategy for moving away from the past while retaining a link with it” (Hughes-Freeland 2007, 219).

Futuna baskets, for example, the ‘water baskets’ previously discussed, have not always been constructed from plain, undyed pandanus as is the current trend: the previous generation of women used to routinely incorporate dyed pandanus strips, but also wool. At this time, baskets were only made in the Futuna style on the island.

Magret told me that Nai, the mother of Vanuatu’s previous Prime Minister Edward Natapei, was skilled at working baskets with wool decorations and would often work names into baskets. However sometime in the 1980s, women stopped using dyed pandanus strips in Futuna baskets:

“They didn’t want dye because it ruined their clothes. When it rained, the dye would go onto their t-shirts. It’s something from before...

they’ve stopped that now.”29 _{Papra 04.06.15}

Women on Futuna noticed that their customers found their baskets problematic when it rained. Bolton (1993, 386) notes that the first commercial dyes used in pandanus work in Vanuatu were imported during the period of colonisation for use on copra sacking. Available in several colours, it was not as colour fast as contemporary textile dyes. This

29 _{“Oli no wantem peint from i stap spoilem ol klos blong olgeta. From rentaem, bei peint i ko long tisot}

76 Figure 9. Macleay Museum, accession number ET 86.19.21. Collected by Dr Peter Elliott during his travels in the 1960s or 70s. Reproduced courtesy of Macleay Museum.

Figure 12. (Left) Laptop basket Figure 11. (Above) Fone basket Figure 10. (Above left) Boks baskets

77 move towards undyed baskets however interestingly also coincides with the

independence of Vanuatu, when kastom and old ways of life were at the forefront of everybody’s minds. Added to this, there was also an increase in the numbers of tourist to visit Vanuatu following independence; pandanus workers say that tourists like the natural look of undyed pandanus that is characteristic of Futuna baskets and the kastom dres worn by performers of kastom danis. Women on Futuna have noticed that tourists come to Vanuatu in search of the ‘traditional’ – exemplified by handmade baskets from natural, undyed fibres. These changes to Futuna baskets are therefore a direct response to both local ideals of the future and tourists’ perceived ideas of the past.

Recent innovations in pandanus basketry with the development of hanbag, boks and now fone and laptop baskets shows how women on Futuna are continuously reworking their craft, setting trends and actually driving the national market forwards as they work to create different futures. These baskets are expressions of modernity. Interestingly, this is reflected in their structure, which is different to that of the ‘traditional’ Futuna

baskets.

Women are keen to lay claim to new innovations in basketry. For example, the

contemporary version of basket closing techniques, fakajikijia and tarabunia, are said to be the work of Seieke’s father’s sister, Meisiri’s, work. Meisiri worked out how to close

tarabunia in a way that makes tarabunia come full circle to conceal the finish – which previously featured a little plaited tail in which a knot would be tied to hold the plait tight.

Small alterations over time can amount to greater stylistic changes as they are accumulated and improved. The hanbag baskets were for example developed over a number of years as women modified and developed each other’s alterations. Kapiapi described herself as a creator of this new style, describing how she had worked out the new form of basket in anticipation of a basketry show held in Matangi a long time, perhaps 30 or so years, ago. At this time, Kapiapi made a Futuna basket, but altered the handles in order for it to sit on the back: holes were punched into the base of the basket in order to thread through the plaited pandanus rope so that it could be worn like a backpack. Though popular, this style was found to be impractical as the rope handles

78 would soon tear holes in the base of the basket where they passed from the inside to the outside. There are therefore few examples of such baskets that still exist around Futuna. The concept of the hanbag basket was not however abandoned, but reworked. To

strengthen the baskets, inner baskets were introduced. As noted above, these inner baskets bear a striking resemblance to the base of the lidded boxes found in Scottish museum collections, see above. The wide-leaves of these baskets is crucial as it enables the doubling up of pandanus strips and thus the construction of an outer basket that emerges from the base of the inner basket. However despite starting these hanbag and

boks baskets with a wide-leafed plait, pandanus workers nevertheless always divide the pandanus strips into regular narrow strips as per Futuna basket styles. Indeed a fine plait is recognised as the work of a skilled pandanus worker both on Futuna and further afield and this suggests that women on Futuna are keen to maintain their reputation for skilled pandanus work. The new styles of baskets are therefore a marriage between the past (fine plaiting) and the future (new construction techniques and styles of basket). Basketry techniques on Futuna have therefore been developed as pandanus workers converse with each other through their work, incorporating their clients’ interests too. Regular innovations in basket work have created two types of basket: the ‘traditional’

Figure 13. Hanbag basket with punctured holes for straps. Figure 14. Contemporary hanbag basket with inner box.

79

Futuna baskets and the range of contemporary basket styles. Nevertheless, a recognisable and distinctive island-wide style is maintained; baskets are a means to express respect for the power and skills of ancestors and this is most visible in fine plaiting work, a common feature of all baskets from Futuna. Innovations in the craft, using the inner box structure, also make explicit pandanus workers’ concerns to situate themselves in a future: a future that is nevertheless steeped in the skills of ancestors.