Dark and light. This pattern also is very clearly illustrated by the dance paddle ao:
I wonder if it is not so that this type of dance paddle has its name from the general Polynesian word ao = world, daylight, dawn etc. And the 'hair' (or rather 'feathercrown') in the ao paddles is, I believe the rays of the sun coming down from straight above. Compare with these drawings of sun in his boat:
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