How To: Know Your Mats

[@PRUNEAVENUE]

I love the slight shade. "Those are the ugly ones".. I'm Tongan and I do agree with her in regards to "Less is more" The Tongans do go overboard. Much of it focusing on quantity rather than quality... The Ie Samoa is much finer and silk like compared to the Kie Tonga... Cheers to Samoa sticking with original. I hope one day i am blessed to own a Ie Samoa to pass down to my children.. God Bless....

[@lpl433]

I think she was referring to the bigger weave patterns on the ie Toga which shows laziness on the weavers behalf. But I hope someone does bless u with a real one too.

[@relaxationinsolitude2429]

She was not referring to the Tongan "ie", the general name of those mats in Samoan is "ie toga' and she's talking about how our Samoan weavers weave the ie toga in wider strips rather than fine.

[@lat6767]

she's not talking about our tongan ngatu

[@ltmg9832]

I agree, but I would also add that Tongans are more articulate with their attention to detail. They ARE masters of their craft too. I’ll give them that though. They have always had various ways to not only to make mats but with their falas and kiekie’s and all that. Always adding certain bits and pieces. You could always tell the difference. For years, I have always had a lot of Samoans in the past admiring the Tongan mats and Koloa. They always said it was nicer to us. We always said they could use the Tongan ones and make it their own if they wanted too. And for those commenting saying “well less is more”..that comment can also overcompensate at the fact that plain is better. Which isn’t always the case and it’s not always true either 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@Taemahino78903]

​@@ltmg9832 thought your tongan 😂

[@loimatasimati8693]

Lol @ "those are the ugly ones" i love this project!!!!

[@Timuia_ipaepaetele685]

Love my culture Samoa mo Samoa Chooohoooo

[@k.mikaele1649]

What are the leaves called to weave the mats?

[@jaytamaalii7209]

Laufala. I know some islands know it as lauhala or pandanus.

[@reginalealofi3811]

@@jaytamaalii7209 💯👍

[@relaxationinsolitude2429]

The variety of laufala to weave fine mats is called 'lauie'. You can use other varieties to weave floor mats and sleeping mats but not the fine mats.

[@monerz-03]

It’s a shame that my people don’t do mats anymore. Instead we do blankets and rugs! 😂🤦🏾‍♂️

[@robertstanley9633]

maybe you should start learning how to make fine mats if it stresses you out

[@johnniefihaki1385]

Love This

[@wigowigo843]

👍❤❤❤❤

[@haa1937]

♥️♥️

[@tongatonga8553]

Tonga is the land of mats.

[@samtui9255]

@Tulouna Le Lagi stupid idiot. It is similar to the Samoan Ie Tonga. It has nothing to do with Samoa. Ha’amoa for us is an ancient Tongan word meaning “where the eggs lay”. They would find the leaves to make the Kie Ha’amoa with it. In saying that , Tonga is much more a place of mats and weaving in general.

[@ltmg9832]

@Tulouna Le Lagi But you guys call it ie toga as well. It’s funny hey…Tongans are always detailed and more lavish. Very boujee with their craft. Not saying to pry or whatever but you can always tell the difference.

[@boxcuber]

ie samoa? isint it called ie tonga? LOL

[@petelosuaniu]

They only ever called "ie toga" because these fine mats were used for weddings between Samoan and Tongan royalty back in history. Nowadays, the ie sae is the ie samoa and the huge ie o le malo and lalaga is better described as ie toga.

[@faataupati]

BoxCuber You seem to have a vendetta against Samoans with your various comments on different videos. Do you know the history behind the Ie Samoa and how this was gifted to Tonga by Futa? She made the first mat in Samoa. Le fala o Futa. Go learn the history instead of spreading your ignorant comments on various videos.

[@helpmereachplzplz]

It ie samoa not ie tonga

[@jamiehaveka1770]

The ie toga are Samoan mats they were made for exchange of gifts between Tongans and Fijians. Women were taught to lalaga at a very young age. I don't think we should call the big ones ugly they may not place importance in Samoa but for Samoans abroad we can use them for many occasions. We should encourage and not our people down. Soon Samoa will reach a million and we need to encourage our women to continue by buying from them, so we have plenty for future generations.

[@bolotautau685]

Ie toga does not mean it's from tonga don't get it twisted

[@giasifataufa3988]

I think she's a bit dramatic with saying the big ones are ugly and not real. Girl Bye there is more to life henny.

[@isaialeuila9327]

Sifa Taufa shes right tho... the big weaved ones are stiff and arent that nice compared to the ie Samoa, which moves like silk.

[@relaxationinsolitude2429]

The lady in the video did not refer to Tongan mats, she's referring to what many weavers in Samoa used to weave wide strips, hence they are reviving what Samoans used to weave "fine" mats.

[@mtboys7tuu443]

I feel the same way too Lol. The real fine mat or ie Samoa is so much harder to weave so therefore harder to get and extremely pricey. They actually recently did mine which took them Roughly 8mnths to weave and it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen. Which is why I feel our Samoan culture use the big ie’s for faalavelave’s etc cause we need it in large quantities. Like they always say “ E sui suiga ae tumau le faavae”