In most Isabel languages these straps with teeth woven onto them are called rade or grade. The teeth are of cuscus (“possum”) teeth, bat teeth or dolphin teeth – though some people today talk loosely about ‘dolphin teeth’ even though some other tooth may have been used. The base of each tooth has been drilled with a hole so that the teeth can be woven into straps (and sometimes they are strung on simple necklaces or anklets). Teeth are assembled in groups of ten, a hundred or a thousand – though often not in precise numbers.

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Teeth straps are worn around the head or neck or, if big enough, worn around the waist or diagonally across the body. It is not easy to identify differences between cuscus and dolphin teeth, however most Isabelian informants insist that most Isabel teeth straps are of cuscus teeth.

A teeth strap with a story

My late father was given a ten-row wide band of animal teeth, by the Kia woman who adopted him from Hograno. These are probably cuscus teeth. The woman who adopted my father was the last member of her subclan (tia). Because my father had been adopted into her clan this meant that the land of that clan transferred to him after she died. Because we have a matrilineal system this land has since passed from my father to me, my sisters and brothers. However, my brothers’ children don’t have rights to the land. This teeth-strap is not only a decoration or ornament. It is considered as something like a ‘title’ to that land. My father’s adoptive mother had told him ‘If someone asks for proof that you hold the land, then this is it.’ In the 1970s it was taken out and tied around my head for a photograph. I did not see it again until it was later taken to a local court hearing as evidence of our association with that land.

This teeth strap is unusual in that it has coloured beads and seed pods attached to it. To the left are simple teeth straps.

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‘Thousand teeth” teeth straps from a Bugotu household.

Further information needed:

Members of this group can help to expand our record of Isabel art by searching out further information on:
Photos and details of drills used for drilling holes in teeth and shells – and the process of doing this.
Clarification of differences between dolphin and ‘possum’ teeth.
Were fish teeth ever used in some form? If so, what fish?