In Malaiu’s community hall, Maima is weaving a mat from pandanus leaves using techniques that have been passed down for generations.
‘This mat is woven one side first, then we join the mat and weave the other side,’ she says as she weaves. ‘This mat I am weaving is for custom ceremonies, for those who attend the custom ceremony to sit and eat their food, or to be used during the ceremony. The mats can be coloured, or plain like this one.’
A traditional practice in Malaliu, weaving mats are an important part of the local culture – but they are also increasingly vital in providing a source of livelihood for women.
‘We use the mats to sit on,’ Maima says, ‘but we also weave mats to sell to earn money.’
During the process of making their Resilience Profile through the Climate Resilient Islands programme, the women of Malaliu chose a mat as their symbol of resilience due to their diversity of benefits, including income and their importance in maintaining intergenerational knowledge. Meanwhile, pandanus was identified as an important part of the surrounding ecosystem during one of the profiling activities.
Leisaruru and another Malaliu resident holding up an ecosystems map drawn by the women during the profiling activities
To combine the diverse benefits of pandanus weaving, the Malaliu community chose a resilience pathway that focused on helping women earn money through local handicrafts like the mats, as well as baskets, fans and other items.
With very few income sources on Malaliu – especially for women – this is an important focus.
‘We think that we must teach our young mamas to weave mats so that it will help them in the future, because there aren’t any other things that may help them earn money,”says Leisaruru, an experienced weaver in the community. ‘Mats and baskets are the only way we earn money.’
This resilience pathway goes beyond a focus on income. Other activities are strengthening intergenerational knowledge by forming a women’s group to instruct and encourage younger women to weave; planting more pandanus and securing a conservation area to increase the supply of leaves and protect it from cattle; and establishing a nearby mama’s market where women can sell their handicrafts, as other markets are often difficult to reach.
These broad and interconnected benefits are seeing this old custom helping the community build their resilience into the future.
‘Weaving has been practiced in the past with our grandmothers, our mothers, up until today, [as we] teach our young mothers to learn and practice weaving mats,’ Leisaruru says. ‘We collect pandanus from our gardens, then we take them home and roll those pandanus leaves. The leaves are subsequently broken, and we begin the process of weaving the mats.
‘Now, we will plant more pandanus and weave more mats, and then we will work together to find a way for our handicrafts to be sold at the market in town, and that will only help our community.’
