Mangaia

Mangaia is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. Mangaia is renowned for its shell neckbands or "eis". These are made from the shells of the tiny yellow snail, the pupu, which emerges only after rain. Gathering, piercing and stringing is a very time consuming business. The women of the island often give the highly prized strands away as gifts of friendship to visitors from other islands in the Group. Mangaia is also renowned for its coconuts. The people of the island have long considered them a staple plant of survival. They remain an important crop even today. Coconuts provide food, coconut milk, and also fiber- all in one shell.