f, composite neck cord are shown on right; foundation braid (11), hair-braid seizing element (12), and coir suspensory cord (13).
Cords of bast were attached to the end loops of the foundation element for tying around the neck. In most of the necklaces these tying cords were absent. In one necklace, a strip of bast was passed through the end loop to its page 114middle and doubled back to form two plies which were twisted into a cord (pl. 8, D).
Excepting necklaces of small land or sea shells, the usual technique in central, north, south, and east Polynesia was to attach a single ornament to the neck cord or band. The use of multiple ornaments is thus somewhat peculiar to Mangaia and does not occur until we reach western Polynesia and Melanesia.
Ivory Neck Ornament (Atiu)
A whale ivory ornament in an enlarged form of the Mangaian ear and neck ball ornaments is preserved in the Cambridge University Museum. The catalog describes it thus, "Rei of cachalot tooth, given by Ngamaru, husband of Makea chieftainess of Rarotonga, to Rev. J. J. K. Hutchin." Ngamaru was one of the three ariki chiefs of Atiu. He married Makea, the most influential ariki of Rarotonga and lived in Rarotonga with his wife after his marriage. The Reverend Hutchin represented the London Missionary Society in Rarotonga while Ngamaru lived there, hence it is evident that the ornament (fig. 60, a, b, c) came from Atiu through Ngamaru.
Figure 60.—Ivory and wooden breast ornaments (Atiu): a-c, ivory ornament (Cambridge University Mus., Z.6097); d-e, wooden ornament (after Gudgeon). a, front; total height, 53 mm.; greatest width, 67 mm.; greatest thickness, 43 mm.; shows two balls (1, 1), and suspensory lug (2) with outer lip. b, from above: shows suspensory lug (2, 2) divided into two flanges by notch from side to side, with upper surface of flanges notched in transverse lines and inner lower part serrated; with central rectangular pit; holes bored through into pit from each end and each side. c, view from below showing dividing groove, d, side view of wooden ornament showing two balls (1, 1) and suspensory lug (2) with outer lip, also square hole in front of lug. e, upper surface showing treatment of suspensory lug to be similar to that of ivory ornament (b).
A similar ornament (fig. 60, d, e) made of dark wood, attributed to Atiu and termed a rei, was figured by Gudgeon (35, pp. 210, 211). He regarded it as a phallic ornament peculiar to Atiu. He states: "The rei of Atiu was worn page 115only by the toa, or braves, of the tribe, and conferred upon the wearer certain rights over any woman he might meet, so long as he wore the symbol around his waist." Gudgeon does not give the whereabouts of the ornament nor the dimensions. He says, "The original is made of tamanu wood and is so old that the texture and polish is that of agate, though the grain of the wood can still be distinctly seen."
Gudgeon thought that the term rei raised the question as to whether the New Zealand ornaments known by the same name were not also originally emblems of the same nature, and he added that he fancied the rei of New Zealand was of phallic origin.
The term rei and its dialectical equivalent, lei, is widely distributed throughout Polynesia, and when applied to ornaments, it refers to the whale ivory or cachalot teeth from which the ornaments were made. Thus the Samoan necklace of several long pointed pendants made of whale ivory was termed 'ula lei ('ula, necklace; lei, whale ivory). The characteristic Hawaiian neck ornament, a hook-shaped pendant of whale ivory, was termed a lei palaoa (lei, neck ornament; palaoa, whale). Neither of these two ornaments suggests a phallic motif. In Mangareva (77, p. 173), a simple pendant of whale ivory was termed a 'ei rei ('ei, neck ornament; rei, whale ivory). It is evident that the term rei was the name for whale ivory throughout Polynesia; and, in some island groups, the term rei was also applied to ornaments made of whale ivory. In other islands, the term was applied to ornaments made of wood; for example, the wooden replica of the ivory orna