SHIP STAMP SOCIETY

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A free sample of Log Book is available on request.

The Tainos people mean of transportation was the dugout “kanoa” (canoe) to travel up and down the rivers also the coastal waters and oceans. They had large and small canoes which were made mostly from wood of the silk cotton tree, which can grow to a length of 25 m. or more.
To hollow out the tree fire was used to soften the inside and when after cooled down stone and shell tools were used to dig-out the inside.
The dugout canoe of the Tainos was long and narrow, flattened bottom, no keel, hull tarred.
Also small single person canoes were used, Columbus reported that he had seen Tainos canoes with 80 paddlers.

Cuba 1985 5c sg 3085, scott 2775 and 50c sg3088, scott 2778.
Aak to Zumbra a Dictionary of the World’s Watercraft and internet.

The Tainos were excellent and very skillful fishermen. They knew very well the rivers, lagoons, mangroves and seas. They used hooks made of fish thorns, tortoise shells and bone. They fished with reeds in their canoes and with cabuya (thin lines) from the shore, they also fished with spears in the rivers and on beaches. They used nets, when the first Spaniards arrived in Cuba they discovered the Tainos had excellent mesh nets and ingenious traps. They knew how to fish using pens that were fences formed from sticks joined with vines, stick to the bottom of rivers and other suitable places in which they caught fish, shellfish turtles. Incredibly they used a fish hook known as Guaicano (remore- or suckerfish) that sticks to the larger fish, and fastened from a cabuya. They used small torches to catch crab. They fished by spewing poisonous substances into the water. In the waters they threw leaves of Barbasco with which they stun the fish that they then collected with ease. They collected shellfish, oysters, and carruchos. (some mollusc).
The Tainos food was natural and tasty of all the delights of the sea and the bodies of water that abounded in a paradisiacal island like Boriquén (Porto Rico)

Cuba 1985 5c sg3085, scott 2775.
http://mayra-losindiostainos.blogspot.co.nz/2009/ Internet.

The “BAOBAO” or “boopaa” used in the Tonga Islands, central Pacific, it is a roughly hewn single outrigger paddling canoe used for fishing inshore or just outside the reefs. Detail vary somewhat from island to island. Dugout hull, slight tumble home to sides; bottom rounded transversely with rocker fore-and-aft, with stern ending above the waterline. Solid vertical ends; break in the sheer line near ends. Two or three straight booms lashed atop the gunwales, cross to the pointed float. Booms and float attached by pairs of over-crossed stanchions, or by double U-shaped flexible withes.
Carries 1-4 people, length 3 – 5m, and depth 0.31 – 0.38m.

Gilbert & Ellice Islands 1939 1½d sg 45, scott 42 and 2d sg 46, scott? 5d sg sg 49, scott 46.1956 2d sg 66, scott? and 5d sg 69, scott? and 10sh sg 75, scott? 1971 35c sg 184, scott? and 35c sg192, scott? 1975 35c sg 259, scott?
Gilbert Islands 1976 2c sg 5, scott?, and 35c sg 20, scott? and 35c sg
Source: Aak to Zumbra a Dictionary of the World’s Watercraft.

Night fishing in low lying coral atolls of the Gilbert Islands appears to provide an ideal environment for flying-fish, which are abundant in the deeper water outside the reefs during the day or night.
The flying-fish is used for eating but also for bait to catch, shark, swordfish, tuna, etc.
The stamp shows the night fishing with flares. The best time is during new moon and full moon and the ensuing three days.
When the people on the island decide to go fishing during the night, the canoes are made ready and the young children and women are told to make the flares from fallen dry coconut fronds, rolled together, the flare has a length of about 9 feet, and each canoe needs around 12 flares.
The scoop net is about three feet long and two feet wide and bound on a pole with a length of eight to 12 feet.
The canoe on the stamp is one of the “baobao” type and has a crew of four. After launching the canoe in the water she is heading late afternoon out of the lagoon passing the surf and waiting till the moon is raising and the flares are lighted, the flying-fish is heading for the light and the net is brought down over or before the fish and only the experienced men can handle the scoop net, during the fishing during full moon the canoe moved forward.
The canoe has flares aboard for fishing around four hours, and the average catch for a canoe is around the 60 fish.

Much more info is given on: http://www.jps.auckland.ac.nz/document? ... lt&target=
More info on the baobao is given: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15857

Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1971 35c sg184, scott?

Mauatua, Faahotu, Mareva, Puarei, Tetuahitea,Teehuteatuaonoa, Teio, Teraura, Tevarua, Tinafanaea, Toofaiti, Vahineatua, Sully ...
These are the names of the twelve women and the little girl who were on board of the BOUNTY when the ship arrived in January 1790 off the island “Hitiaurevareva” now known as Pitcairn. It is to these women whose names have been forgotten, eclipsed by the history of their mutinous companions, whom this stamp pays homage. Removed from their families and friends, forced companions of sometimes violent men, they nevertheless patiently built the life of the community of this lost island off the Gambier archipelago, making the choices they considered best for the well-being of their children. On the spot, they recognized edible plants, those which can be braided for the roofs, those which heal, and those which are beaten to make “tapa”, a precious stuff in their islands. In 1790,the death of two of these “vahine” triggered a series of violent events which only stopped three years later, but, these strong women defended their independence in times of crisis, even by trying to leave the island where their companions had killed each other. Thanks to one of them, Teehuteatuaonoa, we know more about the circumstances in which the community of Pitcairn was born. She delivered her version of the story, their attempt to settle on Tupua'i (or Tubuai island), and on their precipitous departure from Tahiti until their arrival and their settlement in their new home land away from the British bloodhounds. Their retreat was finally discovered in 1808 by Mayhew Folger, captain of the TOPAZ,who met John Adams, the last surviving mutineer, 19 years after the famous mutiny. Teehuteatuaonoa finally managed to leave the island of Pitcairn in 1817 on board of the whaler SULTAN leaving for Chile. She, the Pitcairn rebel without descendants, finally found Tahiti where she is buried ... In 1838, these women ahead of their time are the first in the world to vote, 70 years before the now famous suffragettes.
It is for these Polynesian women forgotten by history that this stamp about the Vahine of the BOUNTY is dedicated... Josiane Teamotuaitau, PhD in Polynesian Civilization This joint issue with Pitcairn islands illustrates the party
evening where the twelve vahine and little Sully went on the BOUNTY which was anchored in the bay of Matavai. Pitcairn islands on the same theme "Women of the BOUNTY" issues
a series of three stamps illustrating the day after partying away from Tahiti, the firing of the BOUNTY condemning the vahines to stay on the island, and life resuming its course
on this lost rock in the Pacific.

http://www.tahitiphilatelie.com/details ... 017&id=317
French Polynesia 2017 1.40F sg?, scott?

In September 1789 after the mutiny and while staying briefly on Tahiti, Fletcher Christian became concerned that some of his men were ready to rebel against him. Spurred also by fear of discovery and arrest from Britain, he made a hurried departure. He and 8 members of the BOUNTY crew sailed from Tahiti with 6 Polynesian men, 12 Polynesian women and a baby girl.

Searching for a new home took four months until uncharted Pitcairn was sighted on 15 January 1790. A decision was made on 23 January to burn the BOUNTY and the fate of all to remain on the island was sealed. The women consorts soon adopted a survival mode by growing crops, fishing, making tapa for warmth and clothing and ensuring Tahitian culture remained an integral part of Pitcairn�s identity through music and dance.

Pauline Reynolds in her "Textile History" article* writes how the production of tapa and gifting "reveals information regarding their social, ritual and innovative activities, and their contribution to the BOUNTY/Pitcairn story". This activity was exclusively a female role but one that gave them a degree of power, status and prestige (depending on the fineness of the cloth). It also provided an outlet for their creative talents and helped bind social relationships.

In addition to clothing the community, the tapa made by the BOUNTY Women also made fine tapa for traditional gifting to seafaring visitors. This gave the women an important role in Pitcairn daily life. Also adds Reynolds, "The making and felting of cloth by the women of the Pitcairn community was symbolic of the binding and weaving of relationships, particularly amongst the women and their children". Their innovative designs and experimentation led to unique Pitcairn tapa cloths which are different to those from Tahiti (French Polynesia) and very recognisable today.

The production of tapa enabled the women to meet regularly and, while speaking in their native tongue, share gossip and stories, as well as frustrations. The work was hard and time consuming but helped develop their strength and athleticism which helped their survival.

Reynolds concludes that the BOUNTY women were "active agents in their community, playing a dynamic role in shaping the social landscape".

*Tapa Cloths and Beaters: Tradition, Innovation and the Agency of the BOUNTY Women in Shaping a New Culture on Pitcairn Island from 1790 to 1850. � Pauline Reynolds, 2016.

http://www.stamps.gov.pn/
Pitcairn Island 2017 $1.80/2.80 sgMS?, scott?.

The stamp shows us net fishing in the lagoon from a canoe, the most common types of fishing in the Gilbert & Ellice Islands in the lagoon is net-, line- or shell fishing.
The nylon net is about 20 to 30 feet long, 2 – 3 feet high and used by 3 or 4 fishermen, two for setting the net, while the other is disturbing the water to chase the fish in the net.
The canoe is a “Wa” canoe without sail and rigging: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8600

Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1971 2c sg 174, scott?
Tuvalu 1976 2c sg20, scott?
Source: Management of Marine Resources in Kiribati By Roniti Teiwaki