It is not every day that I wake up to a vista like this: A beautiful outrigger - and yes that's the view from our balcony :) The Marshallese pride themselves in being the best navigators of the Pacific and they have been building outrigger canoes for centuries. Next to our hotel is the fabulous WAM (canoes of the Marshall Islands), who are teaching the ancient art of outrigger canoe building and racing. The Marshallese navigators oriented themselves with stick charts, which display the currents. Many official buildings on the Marshall Islands have such charts on display. Here is one, with a little detail image to give an idea of how the individual atolls are situated in the overall set-up. |
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One of the ancient art forms in the Marshall islands is weaving. The link below leads to an article about the circle of women practising weaving in the Woman's Weaving Hut Jined Kiped here at the University of the South Pacific, Majuro: http://www.pacificarts.org/node/946
I have been fortunate enough to be introduced to the master weavers and they have taken me under their wing. Thus far I how to weave long strings called 'bokwaj'. Hopefully, one day, I will be able to try my skills at the wonderful big mats (pronounced 'jaki', I will post photos soon!). Here are two pictures as evidence: you hold the finished string with your toes while you weave the long pandanus fibes . |
My name is Isabelle Buchstaller
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