Past

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Malaya

As in the already named countries is the kite here also popular as well it has a strong bond with the culture. It is said that te leaf-shaped kites are developed here independent of the kites in China.
This type of kites and other leave-sewn kites are still made, but with the arrival of paper in the 16th century the kites got more diverse shapes and forms like human figures (true size!), animal figures and the famous Wau Bulan (or Moonkite). Their size can be over ten feet (3 meter). They have an oval upper sail and a cresent shaped lower sail. The shape of the upper sail allows quick and easy manoeuvring. As you can probably guess is this kite used for kite fighting. They often attach a hummer to let the kite look alive.
The Malayas are such commited kite fighters that in recent years kite figthing was banned in Kata Bheru because of the ill-feeling it produced.
Still are competitions held after the harvest time. It's also a custom at this time of the year to fly kites with hummers over their homes during the night. If the pitch changed they were warned for a coming storm.

The South Pacific Islands

Through the Pacific Ocean kites came to South-America The kite is seen in India is the embodiment of the dynamic soul of men as the sail is seen as the spirit of the canoe. It is said that te original concept for kiting in this country came from a sail of a canoe that had broken free. Also in this country is the word for kite equil to that for bird. This is because they believe that a bird is a kind of messanger between men and the Gods and that they built their kites in the shape of a bird. Kites were also seen as the struggle of the Gods with the elements and kite fighting as their favorit sport.
The Polynesians have a myth about two brother Gods introducing the kite to men when they had a kite duel. Thew winner was the one that could fly his kite the highest. The winning brother cheated by using a large amount of line. This kind of contests are still held in which the highest flying kite is dedicated to the Gods.
The people use a kind of messanger to get their kite down when the wind grew to strong. It consisted of a basket filled with mountainfern and grass which they let travel along the line and bring thus the kite down.
In Hawaiī kite were used for religious and cermonial purposes, weather forcasting, navigation and particulary for the distribution of land. For distribution of land the flew a kite and released it. And where the kite landed was the land that could be claimed.
Before paper was introduced in the South Pacific in the 16th century material as wood, bark, leaves, rushes, cloth (tapa) and fibre twine. Although they were limited by these materials they build diverse and effective kites from very small complex kites to huge kites to beautiful sohpisticated.
For short the kite played and important part in the daily live of the Polynisians. They used them for their religions, cermonies, fishing, weather forcasting and war.

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