Mataka Series

After coming to string figures a few months ago, I started reading through the archives of the ISFA mailing list. My efforts were well rewarded when I stumbled upon this post, by Wil Wirt in April 2001, in which he describes the instructions for a Fijian figure called "Mataka".

1. Opening A.
2. 1 move under all loops and enter 5 loop from below.
3. Rotate 1 away from you, catching 5f on its back, continuing down, toward you, and up.
4. Release 5.
5. 345 move under 2 loop, enter 1 loop from above and hold 1f to the palm.
6. 1 shares 2 loop.
7. Navajo lower 1 loops over upper loop.
8. Touch tips of 1 and 2 and transfer 2 loop to 1.
9. 2 enters 345 loop proximally and picks up double strings across back of 345 fingers.
10. Release 1 and slowly extend with fingers pointing away.

I fell immediately in love with it. (Mostly with the process, though the presentation is lovely, too.) I've since played with it quite a bit, trying variations and experimenting. Recently I realized that the extension it uses (steps 5-10) is identical to the "Gilbertese Extension", the difference being that this Fijian version is done entirely on the hands. (The Gilbertese Extension itself uses slightly different techniques to achieve the same ends, employing the teeth to pull 2n through the 1 loop, instead of the Navajo maneuver that this figure uses.)

While experimenting, I discovered that I could make a "sparse" version of Mataka, with only two loops suspended from the transverse strings, instead of four:

1. Opening A.
2. Rotate 1 a full turn towards you.
3. Rotate 2 a half turn away from you.
4. Proceed with steps 2-10 of Mataka, above.

This made me wonder, what would a version of Mataka with zero loops suspended from the transverse strings look like?

1. Opening A.
2. Rotate 5 a full turn toward you.
3. 1 moves over 2 loops and removes 5 from below.
4. Gilbertese Extension (steps 5-10 of Mataka, above).

Knowing, then, how to make these net patterns with 0, 2, and 4 crossings across the transverse strings, I wondered next how to move from one to the other. Starting with the 0-crossing version, could you go to the 2-crossing version?

Indeed, you can. Starting with "Mataka 0":

1. 1 removes 5 loop proximally.
2. 5 removes 2 loop proximally.
3. Each palmar string has a loop encircling it. 2 picks up the distal string of that loop.
4. Release 1.
5. 1 moves to the far side of 5f and removes 5 from above.
6. Rotate 2 a half-turn away from you.
7. Gilbertese Extension.

The result is "Mataka 2". And if you apply those same movements to "Mataka 2", you get "Mataka 4"! So, what happens when you apply it "Mataka 4"?


The process may be continued indefinitely, although at 6 or more crossings the net pattern begins to require more and more manual arranging. I must admit to feeling more than a bit of pride in having puzzled this all out! (I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that someone else worked this all out before me; but that wouldn't reduce my satisfaction in having solved it myself.)

So, where next? There are two questions in particular that I'd like to research further regarding this series:

1. Can you make a net with an odd number of crossings on the transverse strings? Is there a Mataka-3, for instance?
2. How do you make Mataka-6 or Mataka-8 directly, without starting from Mataka-4?

This is what I love about string figures: there's always something more to explore!