Tabua (Whale Tooth)
Polished sperm whale tooth of Fiji, its base pierced and threaded with a cord of braided sennit, presented with a formal speech as the highest mark of respect and goodwill. The tabua is offered to seal covenants between chiefs, to atone for wrongdoing, to open negotiations or requests that are then rarely refused, and it is kept by the recipient as the living record of the promise. Originally only teeth of beached or stranded whales were available, and later whale-tooth or ivory substitutes were traded in; today the tabua is not sold but exchanged at weddings, birthdays, funerals and chiefly o