February, 2014: Four historic Marshallese jaki-ed have been discovered in the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Three date from a century ago, while the fourth was made by weaver Matlina Swain of Namdrik in 1977.
The discoveries were made by long-time friend of the Marshalls Caroline Yacoe, who often travels from her home in Hawaii to attend the annual exhibition and auction of jaki-ed at the Marshall Islands Resort. She was recently in San Francisco and heard from a colleague that the Academy had some Marshallese mats. She subsequently met with the Academy’s Senior Collections Manager Russell Hartman and was shown the mats, which she identified as being jaki-ed.
More jaki-ed have also recently been discovered in museum collections in Geneva, Switzerland, and Oakland, California, with the University of the South Pacific’s Majuro campus team working on accessing photographs of these clothing mats. USP’s Director, Dr. Irene Taafaki, along with Maria Fowler, have been key to reviving knowledge about jaki-ed and the revival of the skill of weaving jaki-ed.
Taafaki was also the mastermind behind the creation of a virtual museum for jaki-ed, which can be found at www.clothingmatsofthemarshalls.com, and was sponsored by the Australian Government.
Each week, hundreds of people from all over the globe have been checking into the site to learn about the history of jaki-ed, the ongoing revival program of weaving jaki-ed, and visit the various museums that have jaki-ed in their collections. These include the British Museum, the Linden Museum in Stuttgart, Germany, and the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand.
Senator Matt Zackhras was thrilled to hear of the existence of Matlina Swain᾿s jaki-ed in the California Academy of Sciences: "Let me see what I can find out about her," he said. A short time later he called with the news that he’d found a relative in Majuro, saying that Swain’s grandson is Wamoj Hisaiah, who is a security guard at the National Telecommunications Authority.
"I remember watching her weaving when I was a young boy on Namdrik," Hisaiah said. "She had a big box in the house where she kept all her weaving materials." He added that his 'bubu' would not sell the jaki-ed: "She gave them away as gifts."
According to Hisaiah, during the time that Japan held power in the Marshall Islands, Swain lived on Jaluit Atoll, where she helped care for a sick man called Roja. “She took care of him using traditional Marshallese medicines and when he was well he took her as his mother.
“She later came to Majuro and lived with his family and gave him a jaki-ed. She died about 10 years ago, and Roja has also now passed on, but I will ask the family if they still have the jaki,” Hisaiah said.
The jaki-ed woven by Matlina Swain was collected in 1977 by a staff member of the California Academy of Sciences. The Senior Collections Manager for the Department of Anthropology, Russell Hartman wrote: "At that time, the Academy had just recently re-instituted its Department of Anthropology (after a hiatus of some 70 years). The installation of a new permanent Anthropology Hall, which featured life-sized dioramas of about 10 cultural groups from around the world was proceeding, with the overall theme being how different cultures adapted to their environments.
“One of the dioramas dealt with Micronesia, specifically the Caroline Islands, so a staff member was sent on a collecting expedition, as we didn’t really have much from that region.
“Our accession record for this mat records it as a sleeping mat for a chief’s baby (based on the designs) and gives its native term as ‘arelung’."
The notes on the jaki-ed also state it was made specifically for the Academy and was purchased from Matlina Swain on Majuro for $20.
“Other Marshallese items were purchased at Mary Lanwi’s Handicraft Co-op on Majuro,” Hartman said, “so perhaps someone at the co-op introduced Matlina to our staff person.”
Hartman said the mat is woven of pandanus and the black and reddish-brown dyed fibers are hibiscus. “I’m not sure what the blue fibers are, although Caroline Yacoe said the blue dye was likely from carbon paper, something that is noted for another object, but not for this particular mat.”
Many Marshallese regularly visit clothingmatsofthemarshalls.com, including, in late 2013, Elenu Patrick, who lives in Tucson, Arizona. She emailed the web master:
“Hi! You have no idea how deeply I appreciate your accomplishment in this kind of work and thought or creating this kind of program to help revive a part of our culture that was actually dying out not too long ago.
“I had tears I my eyes when I found out about this program and then to see it online as a Virtual Museum. The last time I saw my Great-Great-Grandmother she was weaving a jaki-ed (an actual needed). May she rest in peace.“Well, many years later I found out that I was one of only few young people at that time who have witnessed the weaving of an actual nieded when at that time the knowledge or at the edge of going extinct. Komol tata for all you good people's hard work in creating this kind of program.”