Mattan̄ or wapepe (stick chart)

Mattan̄ or wapepe (stick chart)

Mattan̄ or wapepe (stick chart)
liok / mālwe (aerial pandanus root or coconut frond midrib)
libbukwe / likajjid (cowrie shells)
kokwal̗ (coconut sennit (rope))
ED# 12144
Accessioned 2002.

Mattan̄ eo (ak āt eo juon, wapepe) ej bar juon iaan meto ko im ej kōm̗m̗an jān liok ak n̗ok. Innām aolepān men kein rej āji ippān doon kōn kokwal̗ eo. Ekkā an ejjel̗o̗k libbukwe ilo meto in kōnke ej n̄an juon wōt aelōn̄. Aelōn̄ in epād iol̗apl̗ap in mattan̄ (ak wapepe) in. Mattan̄ (wapepe) in ej n̄an juon aelōn̄. Al̗al̗ kein rōkob rej kapool̗e rej kōkkal̗l̗e in ae im n̗o ko pel̗aakin. Rōkar ejaake mattan̄ (wapepe) eo bwe ri-katak eo ej katak jerakrōk en kōkeememeji ae im n̗o ko pel̗aakin juon aelōn̄ unin an āin jekjek in wōt lōta T. Men in eokkutkut kōjerbale kōnke ijo in ri-katak jerakrōk eo ej āiki pedped in aer en̄jaaki an ae kab n̗o ko depet doon meto. Rej kōjerbale wōt ioon āne.

The mattan̄ (also known as wapepe) is a teaching device that is made from the aerial roots of pandanus or coconut frond midrib. All these are assembled together with coconut rope (twine). This device usually does not have cowrie shells attached to it. The island is depicted in the center. It is a single-island device. The bent sticks that encircle the centerpiece represent currents and swell patterns. The mattan̄ (wapepe) was created to sharpen the memories of an apprentice navigator so he remembers the currents and swells encircling one island, which is why it is t-shaped. This chart is used most often because the apprentice navigator uses it to build his vocabulary. He uses these words when he is on the water feeling the currents crossing one another. It is only used on land.

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