Meet Rachael Pokiau from Waratalai village in the Manus south coast. Every day as we go about our usual daily routine she sits at a corner of a flat at Green Haus in Badili weaving her baskets. She has been in Port Moresby for a month now and I couldn’t let this opportunity go but ask her how she makes those wonderful Manus basket. Like all the art of making something, her skills and knowledge had been handed down to her by her mother. As she explains it starts off with husking a special type of tree that is in the bush. They let it lie in water for a month until it becomes rotten. After that it is dried and stripped into small pieces enough to start weaving. There are two types, the small one is called Drobanahin and the big one is called Drobagungan. As in many cultures in Papua New Guinea, baskets were mainly used for bride prize and special occasions as well as for carrying items.
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