Kahu (cloak)
Acknowledgements
Copyright Reproduced courtesy of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Creator
Unidentified
Identifiers
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa number ME015747
TLF resource R4712
Source
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, http://www.tepapa.govt.nz
Description
This is a kahu (cloak) made of feathers and wool on a woven muka (flax fibre) base. Light-coloured
and dark-coloured feather squares alternate down the sides, with a narrow lighter row at the top and a
dark strip across the bottom above a border of patterned weaving. Two rows of alternating dark-andlight feather triangles cross the cloak, one at the top and one at the middle. In the top panel is a
multicoloured motif of a diamond, club, heart and spade. Large, fragmented letters in the bottom panel
spell out 'POI' and 'AUA'. The cloak is stained and shows signs of wear. It measures 126 cm x 106 cm,
and is of unknown origin.
Educational value
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This asset is a cloak that, besides providing comfort and protection, would also have
symbolised the wearer's mana (status, prestige or rank).
It is an example of Māori weaving that incorporates feathers - kahu huruhuru (feather cloaks)
appear to have developed in the second half of the 19th century (they are not recorded as
existing earlier) and have become perhaps the most prestigious of cloaks, using feathers from
both native and introduced birds.
It provides an example of Māori weaving that incorporates wool - Māori weavers were quick to
see the potential for the use of wool in weaving when it was introduced to New Zealand by
Europeans; at first, commercially dyed coloured wool was used in the tāniko (fine
geometrically patterned weaving) borders but, later, motifs of wool were woven into the main
surface.
It is an item that would have been made by a highly specialised and painstaking process - the
preparation of materials for weaving takes a long time, and the weaving technique, called
whatu, is done entirely by hand, by twisting thin strands of muka between cross-length
strands.
It is an item that would have been made by a person highly trained in the customs, protocols,
history, language and tribal traditions associated with Māori weaving - weaving knowledge
was usually passed down to girls and young women from their mothers, aunts, or
grandmothers; traditionally, weavers were taught in the whare pora (house of weaving).
It is an example of an art that was nearly lost in the decades following European arrival and
settlement in New Zealand, but has subsequently been revived - in recent years, woven
cloaks have once again become a celebrated part of New Zealand culture.
© Curriculum Corporation and Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, 2006, except where
indicated under Acknowledgements
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