Kiribati Economies, Conflict, and Hair
During the 19th century, the I-Kiribati had extremely complex economic and social systems. Inhabiting islands throughout the Pacific, the geographical location of the I-Kiribati allowed them to spread out across four hundred miles of land in Micronesia. However, the vast amounts of land the I-Kiribati occupied frequently caused and conflict amongst the I-Kiribati and other communities.
The geographical isolation of the I-Kiribati meant that they relied largely on the materials in the natural environment to support their complex social and economic systems. During the 19th century, they innovatively used and combined materials like coconut fiber, pandanus, shark's teeth, animal skin, and human hair to make any item they required. Human hair in particular, was extremely valuable to the I-Kiribati's economic and social systems and relied on to create armor and important tools for fishing.
This belt was made in the late 19th to early 20th century would have been a part of a I-Kiribati set of armor. Made of coconut fiber, human hair, and accented with animal bone, this belt was used during conflicts to protect the vital organs of the wearer. Using black stripes of human hair in this piece of armor was a very intentional choice on the part of the I-Kiribati. To the Indigenous peoples of the Oceanic islands, materials like feathers, sea creatures, and human hair are sacred. By using wearing this hair-accented belt, the wearer would be protected from bad omens or magic used by an opponent in battle. This particular belt was donated by Irene Beasly in 1924, likely via a collector, missionary, or antiquity dealer. Although this belt contains sacred material, foreign collectors and colonizers often disregarded the value of these items to the I-Kiribati for their own financial gain.
Housed in The British Museum
ID# Oc1944,02.926
This armor cuirass would have been another important part of the I-Kiribati armor. This I-Kiribati cuirass has a coconut fiber and wood body with a high back to protect the wearer from attacks from behind. The darker border and sections on the cuirass are accents of human hair woven into the coconut fiber. This cuirass was collected by Charles Swayne (a British colonial officer) between 1893 and 1895. I-Kiribati cuirasses were often taken by colonial officers because of their impressive appearance. However, to the I-Kiribati, cuirasses were valued for more than their impressive appearance. The hair of a female loved one was often used to decorate the Kiribati cuirass, with different shapes acting as makers marks. The diamond pattern on this cuirass is believed to be one of the most common. These shapes would often represent animals like turtles or shark teeth. It was believed that creating specific hair designs on cuirasses, the wearer was imbued with the power and strength of that particular species, giving them a crucial advantage in conflict.
Housed in The British Museum
ID#: Oc1922,1009.1
This rope was made by the I-Kiribati entirely from human hair. Braided to make a strong, thick cord, rope like this would have been used for fishing. Micronesia's atolls primarily support hardy plants like coconut, so marine resources were the primary source of food for the I-Kiribati. The fabric tag attached to this bundle of cord reveals that this particular cord was collected by Admiral Edward Henry Meggs Davis when he was in Kiribati land between April and August of 1892. Admiral Davis was a naval captain who used his military and colonial authority to gather various 'ethnographic' objects from Indigenous groups like the I-Kiribati. In 1903, this corded human hair was sold, along with 141 other belongings, by Admiral Davis to the British Museum. Though this rope is an example of how human hair was used by the I-Kiribati as a helpful tool to serve economic systems, it also serves as a reminder of the ways many belongings made of human hair and other materials were wrongfully taken and displayed by colonial regimes during the 19th century.
Housed in The British Museum
ID#Oc1894,-.240
I-Kiribati fish traps like the above would have been a vital tool in collecting fish and other aquatic wildlife for consumption. Made of wooden sticks, cowrie shells and a weight stone, this intricate trap uses human hair and coir string to create a delicate rope around the top of the trap. In this instance, human hair is used as a fine, yet durable material. This specific trap contains two small coconuts, which, according to its collector, acted as good luck charms for fishing. This trap was collected by Sir Arthur Grimble, a British colonial officer and ethnographer on the Gilbert and Ellice Islands from 1926 to 1933. He donated this trap to the British Museum in 1921 after concluding his ethnographic work, along with other I-Kiribati belongings, which were likely taken under a false or illegal premise.
Housed in The British Museum
ID#: Oc1921,0221.84
Kiribati Hair and Colonization
By the end of the 19th century, colonization and exploitative ethnographic practices caused missionaries and Christianity to be introduced to the I-Kiribati people. As a result, the I-Kiribati people's economies and culture was severely restricted and policed, causing human hair to be replaced in fishing tools and halting the production of traditional armor.
The belongings above highlight that during the 19th century, hair played a vital role as a symbolic and decorative material in armor, and even as a practical material for fishing. Today, ongoing efforts at cultural revitalization of the I-Kiribati cultural practices have allowed the art of traditional armor construction to be retaught and researched, though hair has remained out of the picture in these reconstructive efforts.