Tapa Cloth

 Tapa Cloth MPR

Tapa cloth (or simply tapa) is a bark cloth made in the islands of the pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga and Samoa, but as far afield as Java, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Hawaii. Tapa cloth is used in both functional and ceremonial purposes. The cloth has played important roles in weddings, funerals and events associated with royalty. The painted patterns feature mostly geometricized plants and fish. Special designs are sometimes used to commemorate important events.

The making of the Tapa is quite involved. In Tonga, hiapo is the name given to the paper-mulberry tree. They are often grown in a corner of plantations. They are cut and then the bark is stripped away from the leftover wood. The bark consists of 2 layers. The outer bark is discarded by being scraped or stripped away from the inner bark. The inner bark is dried in the sun and then soaked.

The bark is then made thinner by being beaten on a wooden tutua anvil using wooden mallets called ike. The continuous sound of beating the bark can be heard throughout Tongan villages.

When the strips are thin enough, several strips are taken together and beaten together into a large sheet. Eventually, there are two layers of strips in a perpendicular direction. A knife or sharp shell is used to trim the edges.

It is common to see the women of a village working together on a huge sheet of tapa. Large Tapa sheets can be around 3 meters wide and 15, or 30, even 60 meters long. The 15-meter pieces are called launima (meaning: five-sheet, because the sheet is 5 squares), and the 30-meter pieces are called lautefuhi.

Next, the Tapa cloth is painted using earthly colours such as reds, browns, and black.

Tapa Cloth MICRO personal response

Comprehension strategy 1 – INFERRING Using clues from the surrounding words, work out what words are missing. Common, pacific, large, important, thinner, events, 2, corner

Comprehension strategy 2 – SUMMARISING  Summarise the reading in 20 words, including Who, where, when and the 3 most important whats. 3 meters wide and 15, or 30, even 60 meters long. The 15-meter pieces are called launima, 30-meter - lautefuhi.

Comprehension strategy 4 – REREADING FOR INFORMATION Answer these questions: Where is the Tapa cloth from?islands of the pacific Ocean What is the Tapa cloth used for?functional and ceremonial purposes What is Tapa cloth made out of? paper-mulberry tree bark. What part of the bark do they use? The inner bark What can be heard throughout Tongan villages? Beating of bark.

Comprehension strategy 5 - Developing vocabulary Find the meanings or synonyms for 5 of the words below. Remember some words have more than one meaning. You must choose the meaning that fits the word as it is used in the text. Tip - in Google type in “synonym for ______” Geometricized - structural Ceremonial - formal Commemorate - celebrate Plantations - farmstead Perpendicular - vertical.

Comprehension strategy 6 -  Reading carefully. Record yourself reading the story aloud using Screencastify - you can get it from here. When you’ve finished recording find the button on the right that says “shareable link” and use that to put your link here: Screencastify