ABSTRACT
The replacement of mats and thatch represents in a broad way an offering of the products of the land by specific kinship groups to their particular ancestors and deities, and is thus an acknowledgment of inheritance. Variations of procedure occur in accordance with differences in the equipment of the temples, their tutelary deities and the rank of the men who control them. Thetetm fariki is most simply translated as ‘carpeting’. It applies to any act of laying mats on the floor of a house, or coconut fronds on the ground, whereby persons or things are kept from direct contact with the soil. One of the most important features of the temple ritual is the re-consecration of Resiake, the temple of Taumako. This building is specifically associated with the Atua i Kafika, thus providing one of the many links between the different dans.
