Arts and Crafts of the Cook Islands
Men wore their hair long, either flowing loose or tied in a knot on top of the head. Cook (20, p. 172), describing two Mangaians who came off to his ship, says, "Both of them had strong, straight hair, of a jet colour, tied together on the crown of the head with a bit of cloth." Webber, who accompanied Cook's Third Voyage made a drawing (79, pl. 11) of one of these men. Cook (20, p. 194) says of the Atiuans: "In general, they had the hair tied on the crown of the head, long, black, and of a most luxuriant growth."
Of the men of Hervey Island, Cook (20, p. 210) says: "They had strong black hair, which, in general, they wore either hanging loose about their shoulders, or tied in a bunch on the crown of the head. Some, however, had it cropped pretty short; and in two or three of them, it was of a brown or reddish colour."
The prevailing style of short hair for men started with the missionaries. Williams (81, p. 247), speaking of the Cook Islanders, says: "The heathen wear very long hair; and, as the Christians cut theirs short, to cut the hair had become a kind of first step in renouncing heathenism; and when speaking of any person having renounced idolatry, the current expression was, 'Such an one has cut his hair.'"
Cook (20, p. 195) remarks that Atiuan women of advanced age had their hair cropped short. He adds that many of them had cuts on their bodies so lately inflicted that the coagulated blood still remained in them. As such cuts were mourning for a recent death, it is evident that the closely cropped hair was part of the mourning custom. The women's hair in ordinary life was probably bobbed, and the present custom of wearing long hair is probably the result of adopting the hairdress of Christian converts who had copied the hairdress of missionaries' wives.
Scented leaves and flowers were worn by both sexes and all classes, but various ornaments were worn only by the upper classes. The more specialized ornaments were worn by males, whereas females were restricted to simpler and less valuable forms. Practically all the old ornaments were given away or sold, and the present population can give no exact details about them. The following descriptions are largely based on Captain Cook's remarks on the inhabitants of Mangaia, Atiu, and Hervey Island (Manuae) and on specimens examined by me in various museums. W. Wyatt Gill also recorded valuable information concerning Mangaian ornaments.
The ears were pierced for the suspension of ear ornaments termed poe or poe taringa. This custom was reflected in the wooden images of Rarotonga and Aitutaki in which the ears were perforated for the suspension of feather ornaments.
Cook (20, p. 173) says of the Mangaians, "The lobe of their ears was pierced, or rather slit, and to such a length, that one of them stuck there a knife and some beads, which he received from us; …" But of the Atiuans Cook (20, p. 184), writes, "Their ears were bored but not slit: …"
Gill (32, p. 337), describing the Mangaians, says: "The ears of children were pierced with fish-bone, then enlarged with a twig of gardenia, so as to admit a fresh-plucked flower (the scarlet Hibiscus or the Gardenia)." However, he contradicts this statement in another reference (28, p. 126) where he says, "In those days ear-ornaments of a prodigious size were worn by men and women. To admit these clumsy adornments, the ears were slit in childhood and enlarged by constant pressure, until at last a small cocoa-nut (vāō) could be inserted."
The Mangaians were evidently the only people who wore large ornaments, such as small coconuts and wooden cylinders. It is probable that they made an initial slit in the ear lobes, whereas the other islanders pierced the ears.
The modern method in Rarotonga is to hold a lime or an orange against one side of the lobe and pierce it from the other side with the sharp thorn of an orange tree. On removing the thorn, the point of the central unopened leaf of ti is pushed through the hole and a short length left in position to keep the hole patent. The coiled central l