Numbers and measurements

Numbers and Measurements

There are special ways of counting various items in ceremonies, such as sea creatures, coconuts, chickens, and fekei (puddings). Rotumans also have their own system of measurements for mats.

Counting Food

Certain foods, such as fish, lobsters, octopus, and chickens, are brought to ceremonies in multiples of 10; bundles of fekei come in units of 30 to 50, depending on their size; coconuts are counted in pairs when they accompany a basket of food, or they may come in baskets.

10 pigs	puak sava'at
10 cows	kau sava'at
10 fish	ia' saiget
100 fish	ia' kato'at
10 lobsters	uar sava'at
20 lobsters	fekei kop uret*
10 octopus	he' sava'at
10 turtles	hoi sava'at
20 alili (kind of shellfish)	poa het
2 coconuts	niu asoat
4 coconuts	niu asoa rua
a basket of coconuts	'ajarao niu
10 roasted chickens in a basket*	raf moat or fekei moa het
50 fekei [puddings] in a basket	fekei kop het*
30 bundles of shark meat wrapped in banana leaves	fekei kop 'i'orot*
a hand of bananas	par ifit
a bunch of bananas	par 'ai
a bundle of five or more taro tied together	'a'an usi

* A fekei kopu is a basket containing 10 to 50 fekei, as stated above, and has two pieces of coconut leaves about three feet long plaited on both sides to make a small tent over the basket. The top part is decorated with feathers, taro leaves, the fins of a shark, or some such, depending on what the basket contains.

Measuring Mats

Mats may be measured in finger spans or by using various distances along the arm.

Hand measurement	Alternative measurement	Rotuman term
1 span of fingers		aniket
2 spans of fingers	length between tip of the middle finger and the elbow (one cubit)	lo' ne si'ut
4 spans of fingers	length between tip of the middle finger and centre of chest	tuifatfata
8 spans of fingers	length from finger tip to finger tip with arms fully extended (one fathom)	aga, tuimaro

Thus, 2 anika = 1 lo' ne si'ut; 2 lo 'ne si'ut = 1 tuifatfata; and 2 tuifatfata = 1 aga or tuimaro. The size of mats may vary depending on the size of people's finger spans and arm lengths.

Today's mats are much smaller than those of old. They are also less fine in weave and therefore take less time to make. Typical measurements of contemporary mats are:

Apei	5 by 12 lo' ne si'u
Agrua	7 by 20 lo' ne si'u
'Eap ma 'on faua	5 by 12 lo' ne si'u
'Eap hapa	5 by 6 lo' ne si'u
Te hapa	4 by 6 lo' ne si'u

Other Measures

Unu (sennit) is measured in aga, or fathoms, for tying the wood in canoe making or house building. The length and width of a house is also measured in aga, ranging in size from a kohea (cookhouse) to kohea so'a (district chief's cookhouse), from the ri mosega (sleeping house) of a commoner to the su'ura of a sau (king's residence). For the roof, the ota, or sago palm leaves (Metroxylon warburgii),are measured in terms of how many oat ha (complete sago palm branches) or häle (section of the roof formed by two split sago palm branches tied together). The men say häl rua, häl fol, or häl häk (two, three, or four häle) for a big house.

Distances are measured by steps, for example, the length and width of a house foundation or of a marä'e (ceremonial ground).

Part 2: Ceremonies

Kato'aga: Rotuman Ceremonies

by Elizabeth K. Inia