Mats in Vanuatu

 Here are the mats seen on Pentecost Island (part of Vanuatu).  They seem to be similar to the mats used in Tonga as sign of respect, but in Vanuatu the mats are only used during traditional ceremonies. The first five pictures are from a ceremony of becoming a chief, where the chief to be has to prove he can kill, so he dances with an axe in his hand and every so often knocks a pig (tied to a post) on a head. It also involves dancers dressed in mats. The last three pictures are from a wedding, part of which is traditional and also involves dance in mats, but the more modern part of the same wedding, in a church, is without mats.