A kiekie is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n dress, an ornamental girdle around the waist, mainly worn by women on semiformal occasions, but nowadays also sometimes by men. At highly formal occasions both gender will settle for a taovala. At casual occasions no girdle is needed for any gender, although women may continue wearing a kiekie even then, as it is considered an easy sitting, nice looking decoration, with which one can show off. (All taovala look more or less the same, and are usually quite stiff and hot to wear). The characteristic of a kiekie is that it is between a mat and a grass skirt ''(manafau)'': it is a string skirt attached to a waistband. It is supposed to be somewhat transparent, showing the

skirt A skirt is the lower part of a dress or a separate outer garment that covers a person from the waist downwards. At its simplest, a skirt can be a draped garment made out of a single piece of fabric (such as pareos). However, most skirts are fi ...

tupenu Tupenu is the Tongan term for a wrapped garment also called a sarong, lungi, or lava-lava, worn through much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Arabian peninsula, the Horn of Africa and Oceania. It is analogous to the kilt worn in Scotland. The ...

worn under it. The strings can be short as a mini skirt, or down to the ankles, but down to somewhat above the knees is most common. Related to the kiekie is the ''sisi'', where the strings are sī leaves or plaited ''maile'' leaves, but where the waistband, full with sweet smelling flowers and fruits, is more important. Sisi are worn by both gender during dance performances. Kiekie are part of the

koloa Kōloa is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 2,231 at the 2020 census, up from 1,942 at the 2000 census. The first successful sugarcane plantation in the Hawa ...

, the handicraft goods made by the women. Every woman can do it, although nowadays we see that some women specialise in it and sell their products on the market. Kiekie can be made from many different materials, both natural and introduced: *strips of

pandanus ''Pandanus'' is a genus of monocots with some 750 accepted species. They are palm-like, dioecious trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics and subtropics. The greatest number of species are found in Madagascar and Malaysia. Common names ...

leaves, often painted in bright colours. Either hanging loose, or plaited together. The ''salusalu'' is a long kiekie, especially for Haapai. *strips of

hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

bast fiber, called ''fau''. Same as the pandanus leaves, but not as coarse and therefore suited for finer designs. *''kaka'', de fibrous tissue which is wrapped around the growing fronds of

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

trees. It is usually varnished to make it stronger and then cut in all type of shapes. *strings or ropes *little disks (few centimeter diameter) made from coconut shell and strung together along their diameter. *

New Zealand flax New Zealand flax describes the common New Zealand perennial plants ''Phormium tenax'' and ''Phormium colensoi'', known by the Māori names ''harakeke'' and ''wharariki'' respectively. Although given the common name 'flax' they are quite distinc ...

, a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

piupiu (see

Pania Statue of Pania Pania, often styled "Pania of the Reef", is a figure of Māori mythology, and a symbol of the New Zealand city of Napier. There is a statue of Pania on Napier's Marine Parade. The legend of Pania of the Reef Pania was a beautifu ...

Gallery

kiekie2.jpg kiekie4.jpg kiekie3.jpg

References

*{{okinaI.F. Helu; Critical essays: Cultural perspectives from the Southseas; 1999 Polynesian clothing Skirts Tongan culture History of Oceanian clothing