Identification and Use of Plant Material for the Manufacture of New Zealand Indigenous Woven Objects Rua E

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ScholarSpace at University of Hawai'i at Manoa Identification and Use of Plant Material for the Manufacture of New Zealand Indigenous Woven Objects Rua E. McCallum and Debra J. Carr Research Abstract Significant collections of objects manufactured by Māori Māori are a tribal people indigenous to New Zealand hav- (the indigenous people of New Zealand) are held, prized ing migrated from various islands in Polynesia approxi- and exhibited internationally by cultural institutions includ- mately 1000 years ago. Toward the end of the eighteenth ing museums such as B.P. Bishop, British, Field and Pitt- century European whalers and sealers arrived, followed Rivers Museums; and Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of by colonists mainly from Great Britain. A treaty was signed New Zealand). This article aims to assist with the iden- at Waitangi in 1840 between the Crown and Māori when tification of woven objects originating from New Zealand sovereign rule under Queen Victoria and protection of the and with the plant material(s) typically used to construct native population came into force. At that time intermar- them by gathering mātauranga Māori (traditional knowl- riage was not unknown between races and today there edge) and diverse interdisciplinary academic literature are very few full-blooded Māori living. Tribal lifeways were e.g., botany, textile science, anthropology, conservation assimilated into Western culture, society and government. science, museum studies. Plant descriptions, harvesting, Although, treaty grievances have mostly been addressed processing and use are discussed; thereby informing the and a cultural renaissance including the revival of Māori researcher and affording appropriate respect and repre- language has occurred, traditional Māori life will never be sentation to the plant from which the object is derived. what it once was. Today, modern Māori have a lifestyle Availability of such information informs museum collection closely resembling their Pākehā (non-Māori) counterparts and interpretation practices, and assists with material cul- under Western law, but Māori continue to adhere to core ture investigations. traditions, customary practices, lore and the spiritual values of their ancestors. Introduction The primary author who writes from an auto-ethnograph- ic perspective is Ngāi Tahu, a tribal group whose bound- aries encompass much of Te Wai Pounamu (South Is- land of New Zealand). She is a contemporary practitio- Correspondence ner and researcher of Māori cultural materials and their Rua E. McCallum, Ruaimoko Productions and Consultancy Ltd., use. Some of the terminology and names used in this ar- PO Box 1388, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND. ticle are unique to Ngāi Tahu and the southern tribes who [email protected] additionally claim a genealogical connection to Rapuwai, Hāwea, Waitaha, and Ngāti Māmoe. An insider approach Debra J. Carr, Clothing and Textile Sciences, University of Ota- has been adopted, thus emphasis has been placed on the go, Dunedin, NEW ZEALAND. [Now Department of Engineer- Māori word usage and its primary placement, as opposed ing and Applied Science, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, SN6 to English. Thus, where a Māori word appears textually 8LA, UNITEDKINGDOM.] for the first time, a parenthetical English translation will be [email protected] provided in text; furthermore, a glossary is supplied at the Ethnobotany Research & Applications 10:185-198 (2012) end of the paper. Published: May 15, 2012 www.ethnobotanyjournal.org/vol10/i1547-3465-10-185.pdf 186 Ethnobotany Research & Applications The Māori worldview is defined by a direct relationship this can raise issues of ownership as opposed to kaitiaki- through whakapapa (genealogy) with the environment tanga and possible repatriation to tribal authorities, com- which according to oral tradition was inherent at the be- munities or individuals. The term kaitiakitanga is com- ginning of the universe. Art motifs associated with their plex, it simply means guardianship, but at a deeper level material culture are rooted in the natural world as are includes trusteeship and possessing the authority over physical objects, tools, buildings and resources. their taonga. From an iwi Māori perspective, taonga held within a cultural institutional context belong to them, they It is important for iwi Māori (Māori people) to preserve are connected to the objects, and the organization that of- the past traditions of their people including both material ten understand themselves to be the legal owner, they are artifacts and the non-material knowledge system that un- holders of those artefacts. The fundamental difference is derpinns Māori beliefs and customs. All of this is at risk, the perception of ‘belonging and ownership’ which in the and has been since New Zealand became home to more Māori view is intrinsic; specific taonga may have been than one culture. There are developing strategies in New made by an ancestor and therefore analogous to a fam- Zealand for museums and Māori to achieve a level of par- ily heirloom. ticipation in the management, care, interpretation, presen- tation and preservation of taonga Māori (Māori treasures) Generally, objects are crafted from natural materials with (O’Regan 1997). It still remains that museum collections due consideration to the atua (gods) as spiritual guard- of Māori artifacts, nationally and internationally are poorly ians of the environment and accompanied by ceremonial understood by the ‘other’ cultures working with them. This practice. The craftsperson works within the restrictions of article therefore, addresses a small proportion of Māori these protocols using knowledge that has been handed cultural artifacts by exploring woven objects (including down generationally as taonga tuku iho (treasures hand- basketry, mats and clothing) and the plant material used ed down), a legacy from the atua. The customs and ritu- to manufacture them. als undertaken when producing a simple rourou (basket for eating from) are no less important than those for cre- Such items are manufactured from either strips of plant ating a precious artwork; all taonga are meaningful due material or fiber extracted from plants using the processes to their origin, the respect for the natural materials used, of raranga (weaving using leaf strips) and whatu (weav- the knowledge and craft applied in its making and the es- ing with fiber) respectively. The positive identification of sence of its new form as having been transformed from taonga and the materials used to manufacture them is im- its primal state. The ethos of these Māori values has re- portant with respect to their care and preservation within mained unchanged throughout time. cultural institutions such as museums. Further, such ap- propriately assigned knowledge using the correct linguis- Consequently, the plants discussed in this paper are sig- tic terminology provides a platform for informing employ- nificant to Māori both traditionally and in contemporary ees and visitors to cultural institutions about the material society; they are taonga species listed in the Ngāi Tahu culture of a society, and the preservation, enhancement, Claims Settlement Act 1998 (New Zealand Government maintenance and revival of traditional knowledge (Ba- 1998) which acknowledges Ngāi Tahu’s cultural and tra- lázsy & Eastop 1999, Florian et al. 1990, Hodges 1988). ditional use of native floral and faunal species. The Act identifies these species by name and acknowledges the The ability to identify plant material used to manufacture cultural, spiritual, historical and traditional association of objects is acknowledged as difficult within many cultural Ngāi Tahu with those species and the natural world. contexts and especially holders of artifacts both domes- “Taoka embody powerful forces, and represent some tic and foreign. For objects originating from New Zealand, of the genealogical identity and relationship to re- such identification is further limited by a paucity of infor- sources originating in the environment. The intercon- mation easily accessible in the international literature. nectedness of humans to the natural world occurs However, some efforts have been made to provide guides through a whakapapa relationship, whereby all things for the identification of plant material derived from New trace their origins to the atua. All taoka are imbued Zealand (Carr et al. 2009, Goulding 1971). In some in- with spiritual concepts such as mana, seen as au- stances identification of objects constructed from cultur- thority, power, prestige, and is the source of energy al materials originating from New Zealand may assist in transmitted through ancestors from the gods; tapu distinguishing tribal ownership with respect to rohe (tribal [under restriction] and rāraki kōrero [traditional sto- areas). This may provide access to lost knowledge, thus ries].” (McCallum 2008:23). enabling social inclusion by preserving, enhancing and This statement is echoed in the understandings of Māori maintaining the traditional knowledge and customs of cul- across New Zealand, indeed Kawharu relates this rela- tural resource use for future generations. However, care tionship with health. is required with respect to both cultural materials and fin- “The interconnectedness of all things means that the ished artefacts as these were widely traded nationally and welfare of any part of the environment will directly im- internationally

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