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Christian missionaries in Oceania

Christian missionaries actively changed Pacific societies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Missionary records often mention a connection between clothing and conversion.

“With the coming of the year 1845, the people's behaviour improved. They began to do the right things; they wore suitable clothes; the women kept themselves clad and wore dresses to church.”
Ta'unga, a Polynesian Christian missionary in New Caledonia
(many missionaries and teachers were Islanders, trained in Oceania.)

Some Islanders began to wear European-style clothes made from barkcloth.

Barkcloth 'tiputa'('poncho') from Tahiti, 18th or 19th century
Barkcloth ‘tiputa’('poncho') from Tahiti, 18th or 19th century

Barkcloth 'ponchos' - old materials, new styles

Barkcloth is usually made from the inner bark of paper mulberry trees. The fibres are beaten and felted together.

Barkcloth top from Tonga or Samoa, 19th century
Barkcloth top from Tonga or Samoa, 19th century

In the 1800s Tahitians and Cook Islanders made the barkcloth into poncho-style tunics. Christian missionaries adopted this idea for a short time and encouraged Islanders to cover themselves up.

Barkcloth was also a traditional way to show status and religious power. Converts could accept Christian ideas of modesty and gain influence in non-Christian ways at the same time.

This ‘tiputa’(above right) was made in the late 18th or early 19th century. Only high-ranking Tahitians wore this kind of shirt, on ceremonial occasions. The maker printed part of the design using fern fronds. They were probably inspired by imported cloth printed with floral patterns.

This top (above left) was made in the late 19th century when missionaries from Tahiti and the Cook Islands brought new ideas of modesty to Tonga and Samoa.

Find out more about the use and importance of barkcloth throughout Oceania here.

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