Found on eBAY_ Filipino Not Tasmanian

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The seller here was labouring under a set of common misunderstandings ... " a wonderful vintage Tasmanian Aboriginal shell and seed necklace ... it measures approx 16" from end to end and is strung on black cotton string ... necklace has a stunning intricate design with apple seeds and aboriginal shells strung together"

Well it is quite clear that this necklace is NOT Tasmanian Aboriginal – see earlier postings here. Why? Well:

• The string pattern is not one that was used by Tasmanian Aboriginal necklace makers;
• The seeds are not apple seeds as is commonly claimed – albeit not by this seller – and are in fact ipil-ipil seeds – from a tropical acacia tree;
• The shells are not of a kind found in Tasmania and are typical of shells found in tropical waters – Tasmania's waters are far from being tropical;
• and thus everything stacks up for this necklace originating in the Philippines, possibly in the 1960s/70s and related to necklaces exported to the USA, Australia and elsewhere as 'hippy beads'.

However it is a wonderful necklace and typical of those believed to have been made from apple seed , not ipil seeds, in Tasmania.For this one to turn up with this stringing patern and shells is important information. Also, it must be noted that the seller was working with the very best information available to her; was being totally honest with her clients;and was trading with the utmost integrity. Indeed, she is now cooperating with the network in our research effort.

The discovery that apple seeds were in fact 'ipil-ipil seeds' quashed the growing belief in Tasmania that these necklaces were made by Tasmanian Aboriginal people. It also put to rest the idea that they were even made in Tasmania. It is a small world and things move around in it.

Interestingly, the evidence is stacking up for these necklaces originating in an Indigenous culture – it is just that it was in the Philippines and NOT Tasmania.

FOUND: A Source Culture For Ipil-ipil [apple] Seed Necklaces

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Via the Internet we now have clear evidence that:

• Ipil-ipil trees can be found anywhere in The Philippines – but Palawan is a key area where cultural production using these seeds occurs today;
  
• The ipil-ipil tree is used as to control soil erosion;
  
• The seeds are known to have medicinal properties as well – the young seeds which is green color;
  
• The matured seeds – dried thus, turned brown – are being made into bags, bracelets, chokers, necklaces and anklets;
• Ipil-ipil trees can be found in the urban and rural areas in the Philippines.
  

Our correspondent tells us "when we were kids we used to play with these seeds. We ate it raw – young seeds – as it is good for Detoxification of toxins ... The products are made by the tagbanuas, an indigenous tribe in Palawan (Southern Luzon) ... the tree can be used as Lumber as well ... The main issue [for the tagbanuas] is to reclaim their ancestral domain ... The tagbanuas also make bracelets, or body accessories out of other seeds of other Philippine trees. But they don't cut the trees just to gather the seeds."

TAGBANUA: Tagbanua are considered as the most widely distributed ethnic group in the Palawan Island. This people can be found living in coastal or near coastal areas of the island - some near the Palawan's river systems. They mainly plant rice for its ritual significance as well as camote, corn, taro, millet and cassava. The Tagbanua are famous for their beautifully crafted body accessories. Their combs, bracelets, necklaces and anklets are usually made of wood, beads, brass and copper. This group is also known for their expertise in basket weaving and wood carving.

The Tagbanuas are brown-skinned slim straight-haired ethnic group. Women wear bright body ornament and brighty colored clothes. They believe in a fairy called "Diwata", which they account for they lives. Marriages are arranged from the age of 12 and polyandry is common. Women with several husbands are considered to be in demand, thus, worthy of high dowries. Both the Tagbanuas and the Bataks developed their own written language like the Mangyans of Mindoros that are inscribed mostly on bamboo tubes. Click Here for More Information

Our correspondent belongs to an organisation fostering 'Fair Trade' and sustainable development in The Philippines. So there is now a good base to work from in understanding these necklaces understood as "apple seed necklaces" in Tasmania much better.

It is a story that is full of irony but nonetheless it is a very rich one.

IPIL [APPLE] SEED BRACELET IN THE USA

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This item is almost certainly made from ipil-ipil seeds and other tropical seeds available in The Philippines

More information from the seller: I acquired the bracelet and quite a few Appleseed necklaces through a local antique shop. I don't know much about them except that the gentleman I buy them from buys from a lot of estate sales. I have plenty of Appleseed
necklaces but have never come across a bracelet before.

IPIL [APPLE] SEED NECLACES IN THE PHILIPPINES NOW

PHP100 = $3.50 (Approx) and to have such a necklace restrung in Australia consistent with the stringing pattern here would easily exceed $100. Most people would choose not pay that in comparison to what else $100 would buy them.

It is worth considering what PHP100 would buy in The Philippines. Today it would buy:half a chicken, 5 kebabs, 250 gms of prawns, 1 mud crab, 2 grandies (beer), 2 flasks of rum, 2 ice creams, sari sari meal, half a kilo of rice, a cup coffee & cake, 2 shapou (buns), a worker for a good part of a day, a 10K taxi fare, a ticket to a film show and 10 cokes.

TASRN is looking at ways it might find the makers of ipil seed necklaces in The Philippines in order to find out some of the histories linked to this work. We are working with people with connections and organisations such as World Vision, The Preda Foundation & People's Global Exchange Philippines, Filipinos in Tasmania and Queensland as well as people in the arts community with Filipino connections. We would also like to hear from people who have connections to The Philippines and/or who might have some information about this area of cultural production!

WATCH THIS SPACE

IPIL OR APPLE SEEDS ON eBAY 03.04.09

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When the seller was asked for more information about this "Vintage? Necklace Apple Seed Long Strand" she said, "I have nothing. That's why there's no info in the listing. LOL. I have a friend who's a Realtor. she is selling a house for the children of a woman who passed away. The kids gave the Realtor 14 tubs of jewelry. This was in it. Sorry I don't have more." ... A familiar story.

A BLOOMING GOOD CWA WITNESS: An apple seed story

It is apple picking time
not apple blossom time
but what the heck

We have contacted Mrs. Peg Lipscommbe and she given us some very useful information. At 80, and a CWA member, and given that she has spent all her life in and around around Margate on the Apple Isle, she had some very useful information about community life in the region, the apple industry and community understandings of the kinds of activities the community was involved in – apple festivals, the promotion of the apple industry, apple packing competitions and the like.

This kind of information is like solid gold for a researcher. We always thought that the CWA would have such people in its membership.

Mrs. Lipscommbe has willingly given us her permission to name her in our research despite the fact that she was telling us about an Aunt & Uncle who made watermelon seed & cherry seed necklaces in Hobart before WW2. Even though this does not point us to a maker of apple seed necklaces it does tell us quite a lot. More to the point, she is a very reliable witness.

We have had several 2nd & 3rd hand reports, and one first hand report, of people who made apple seed necklaces. It seems that they made them for their own or their family’s use in general.
Interestingly, Mrs. Lipscommbe has told us that “she has never heard of apple seed necklaces being made” anywhere near where she has lived. She has wonderful stories about Apple Festivals, Apple Blossom Princesses and all kinds of things that were celebrated at these events. But no apple seed necklaces! Strange because this is the Apple Isle and Tasmanians all celebrate that.

It seems that people did make apple seed necklaces in Tasmania but not in large numbers. Mrs. Lipscommbe discounted the idea that seed necklaces were "jewellery of The Depression." She is a child of The Depression and recalls that life was "too busy for that kind of thing." She recalled helping her Aunt make necklaces as a child and in particular handing her melon seeds that she could "pierce the seeds with a hot hat pin." It seems these necklace were made as a kind of recreation activity but not for sale and often as gifts.

Nonetheless the search goes on! We need to know the stories that are out there and it seems that up until now very few people have been looking for them in Tasmania.

CWA IN TASMANIA JOINS THE HUNT FOR APPLE SEED MAKERS

We have sent the information to a couple of Huon Branches but have not received a reply as yet. Your article will also be printed in the next issue of our magazine asking anyone to contact you direct. We hope you get some great feedback.

CWA in Tasmania (Inc.)
PO Box 583, NORTH HOBART 7002
Phone: (03) 62 313 706