Native Girls, Rotuma

This photograph is of two Rotuman women sitting on the ground beneath a coconut palm tree. They are wearing monuma (white cotton blouses) and dark coloured European style cloth skirts, probably introduced into Rotuman society in the mid to late 1800s during the colonial period.

In the 21st century, the monuma is recognised as a national garment of Rotuma. It is often worn by women when they perform the indigenous dance called tautoga, where men and women position themselves in rows with men dancing on the right hand side and women on the left. Elders act as lead singers for the performance and provide the musical accompaniment by beating out the dance rhythm on a pile of mats.