A Masi beater, Fiji Islands. Quadrangular hardwood beater with tapering handle, three of the beating sides with incised lines, the fourth side uncarved. Fine dark-brown patina with wear indicative of significant use and age. The masi, also called tapa in other regions of Oceania, was made from pieces of inner bark that were soaked, dried and beaten to create a fine and flexible cloth. Women would beat the bark while singing ancestral stories which would load the cloth with ancestral power and prestige, called mana. Length 41 cm