Kuta

The Kuta reed is a rare plant that only grows in some areas of Fiji. My village has two patches, one of which is pictured below. When harvested, dried, flattened, and woven into a mat, Kuta becomes very valuable. It is an important source of income for the women in my village. Because our Kuta grows in low-lying areas, the patches flooded with salt water during Cyclone Tomas in March of this year. Everyone was very concerned that we wouldn't get a harvest this year, and that the salt might prevent future seeds from growing. And although the harvest was three months late, in July and August the women began going to the patches and bringing back the Kuta that will last them the entire year.

One average sized Kuta mat can bring in $100-$300 dollars when sold in Fiji's cities. Kuta mats are reserved for special occasions, and they make traditional gifts during weddings and funerals in Fiji. For Jaron and Risa's wedding (the 10-10-10 wedding of my sister and new brother-in-law), I knew I wanted to weave a Kuta and bring it to America with me.

Here are some pictures of my Kuta weaving adventure...

The village Kuta patch behind my house.

To get into the Kuta patch with the longest and thickest reeds, I had to wade through waist-deep water. The section of the patch we decided to harvest, however, had only ankle deep sludge. To harvest the reeds, we use special knives to cut bundles of kuta at their base...

... Then, we get rid of all the too-short and too-thin reeds using a special technique I learned from the women....

... and stack it up to take home...

When we throw the unusable Kuta on the ground and keep only the good reeds, the patch ends up looking like this. Sort of like a Kuta graveyard. But after a few weeks the new plants start to poke through.

Here I am with my bff Mareani after a 3-hour harvesting session. We are each carrying one bundle of Kuta. In order to make a mat, we will need at least three bundles.

To make the Kuta into something that is weavable, every day it must be laid out in the sun.

It takes approximately 30 minutes to put out and bring in the Kuta that is drying. Each bundle needs about 8 hours a day of sun for approximately 5 days to turn straw colored and be ready to work with.

Here are three of my bundles, post-drying.

To start weaving, we first pick out all the reeds that are similar in width. This is why three bundles are necessary to make one mat. After picking out the similar Kuta, there is one usable bundle that needs to be flattened. To do this, we walk on it, and then we use a shell or a spoon on each individual piece to finish preparing it.

This is how the Kuta mat is started. These pieces of Kuta are resting on a Voivoi mat. The major difference making Kuta so much more valuable is that it is much thinner. Whereas Voivoi is a flat and wide cross between a leaf and a reed that can be cut to any size, Kuta is thin and takes many more individual reeds to make one mat.

After a few minutes, the Kuta mat looks like this.

Here, my friend Mesi finishes weaving the first strip.

After a few weeks, there some patterns have been woven in, and the Kuta starts to grow outward.

Here, Jaron and Risa's wedding mat is almost finished. Mere is putting on the final row.

After we finished weaving and trimming all the edges, the ladies helped me roll all the mats up together so I could fit them in my suitcase and bring them home.

Here is Risa, wearing a traditional Fijian wedding outfit given to me by some friends, and sitting on her new Kuta.

At the rehearsal dinner I dressed Jaron and Risa both in half of a masi wedding costume.

And as one final surprise, the ladies wove me a small Kuta to go underneath Jaron and Risa's wedding cake.

Thanks for reading.

xx

Milika

:-)