CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Rope
vor 1900
About the object
Capturing and taming frigatebirds (fregatidae) was a common practice in Micronesia and Polynesia. They were kept as pets or trained to deliver messages. The birds were captured using lassos of this kind, which came from Nauru. In her commentary, Antonie Brandeis described the procedure as follows: “The small ring made of rooster feathers is placed over the thumb and then the bast rope is slung into the air, whereby the white stone from the tridacninae clam wraps around the bird.”