Lu stood transfixed, staring at the image displayed on the wall screen like she was seeing something much more than the strange looking basket that was depicted there. Sara gently touched her shoulder. "What is it?"
"Fefe'abu. We used to use them to harvest tisa. That's why Yi'oritane tisa had the best flavor. We did it the old-fashioned way. Everyone always came together at the river to help. We'd sing the harvesting songs and it would turn into a big party. My mom made the best tisa tulivo in the whole tribe, you know. She loved to cook. She tried to teach me how to make it, but I was too busy looking up at the stars. I didn't care about cooking." Lu grazed the image with her finger tips with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Now I'm sorry I didn't pay attention when I had the chance."
Description
The fefe'abu was a tool used by the nomadic tribes of the Bane'ile to harvest tisa, a type of bright purple grass seed that grew along the rivers of Bane'ile and was often enjoyed in many popular dishes. The tool was made from woven tisa grass, making it very light and easy to carry, and it also doubled as a container in which to store and transport the tisa. The fefe'abu continued to be used by the Yi'oritane tribe even after more modern methods of harvesting tisa were developed because they believed that it better preserved the flavor of the seeds.
Construction
The fefe'abu was a kind of two tiered round basket woven from tisa grass. The smaller top tier, called the fefe, was loosely woven, leaving small holes in the bottom for the tisa seeds to pass through while bigger and lighter bits of plant matter would remain. The bottom tier, called the abu, was much larger and tightly woven to hold the seeds that fell through the fefe. Once the abu was full, the fefe could be detached and then used with a different abu.
The Yi'oritane tribe took great pride in their fefe'abu, often using elaborate weaving techniques to create intricate designs. These were more like works of art than simple tools, and were sometimes purchased solely for their beauty by other tribes who used more modern methods for harvesting tisa.
Mechanics
During the harvest seasons, everyone would gather at the river to pitch in and help collect and process the tisa which was harvested by gently knocking the seeds off the flower heads of the plants into the fefe'abu. One person would do the knocking while another would grasp the handles on the bottom basket and gently shake the tool causing the tisa seeds to fall through the fefe into the abu. Once full, the fefe was detached and the abu was capped to be used as a sturdy container for both transport and storage. The use of woven tisa grass in the construction of the fefe'abu kept the seeds protected while still allowing air to pass through these containers thus preventing moisture from collecting and causing mildew to form.
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