Siapo

The production of siapo in Samaon communities begins with the harvest of the paper mulberry plant (Broussonetia papyrifera), or u’a. The u’a is grown specifically for use in siapo making. To remove the bark, a cut is made using a sharp implement such as a knife or even the siapo maker’s teeth. Once the cut is made, the bark and the inner bast fiber will separate readily from the wooden core. Once the bark is removed the strip is wrapped around the maker’s hand with the bast facing out to help flatten the strip. The outer bark is removed by once again using a sharp implement to separate the bark from the bast, then the bark is peeled away by hand down the length of the strip. The strips are then put into water to soak, allowing the fibers to hydrate and soften.

After soaking, sometimes for as little as five minutes, the strips are taken out of the water and spread flat onto an upright wooden board. The serrated edge of a shell is used to scrape away any remnants of the outer bark and to begin spreading the fibers apart. The whole strip is worked in this way, keeping it wet the entire time. Once fully cleaned, the strip is rinsed, folded, and pressed against the board with a smooth-edged shell to remove the excess water. The strips are then beaten against a wooden anvil, called a tutua. The beaters, called i’e, are rectangular and wooden, and they can have smooth or grooved faces, sometimes both on the same beater. Once the desired width has been achieved, the cloth is pulled taut to its full width and laid flat. Rocks are placed along the edges to allow it to fully dry in the desired orientation.

Once dried, the u’a is ready for joining and decoration. If the decoration is going to be applied using an ‘upeti, or rubbing board, the sections are joined as the pattern is applied (Figure 6). Siapo is often two-ply, with the two layers having opposite grain directions to confer strength to the overall cloth. The pieces are joined using a starch paste from the arrowroot plant. To join pieces of u’a, a cut edge of the tuber is rubbed directly onto the surface, depositing a layer of starch paste, and the piece to be joined is placed on top. This process is repeated as many times as needed to achieve the final dimensions of the siapo.

There are two primary methods of decoration, mamanu, or hand applied, and ‘elei or tasima, or the rubbing method. Both techniques use natural dyes as the primary colorant. The most prevalent color is a dark brown dye called o’a which darkens rather quickly with time and has a glossy finish. Other colors are a yellow (ago) from turmeric, a black (lama) made by adding the soot from roasted candlenuts to the o’a dye, and a red (loa) made from the pods of a “lipstick tree”. Dyes are applied with a brush called a paogo made from dried pandanus fruits. For the mamanu decoration, the patterns created with the dyes are applied by hand alone. In the rubbing method, a pattern board is used to define the overall design. The u’a is laid onto the board and a layer of red clay called ele is rubbed into the surface to emphasize the pattern and transfer it to the u’a. This siapo was likely produced using the ‘elei method with an ‘upeti that was stitched rather than carved. The stitched ‘upeti was made by sewing coconut midrib and bamboo strips onto a rectangle of pandanus leaves. The stitched supports were much more time consuming to construct and were not as durable as a wooden board.