Had an interesting day today, making rope from harakeke (NZ flax, Phormium tenax). Here a group are extracting the fibre from the long harakeke blades to weave together into a rope that will moor a mokihi (boat) to be part of an exhibition in the new information centre at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.
The theme of the exhibition is the use of plants in Canterbury, emphasising how much humans have relied on plants for survival. The harakeke was of prime importance to Maori, used for clothing, baskets, rope work, fish traps and nets, just about everything.
The harakeke was cut at a pa harakeke, (a place set aside for harakeke cultivation) in a swamp reserve outside Christchurch. The pictures here are from another reserve, Travis Wetland. Christchurch has a great wealth of swampland, and was very rich in food and plant resources for Maori. Mokihi were the traditional shallow-bottomed boats used to travel from one part of the district to another, through the many interconnecting waterways.
The long blades must be prepared by hand, cut through the outer layer of green tissue, and then stripped and scraped to reveal the long, durable fibres within. These are then plaited together to make a rope.
Traditionally, Maori used mussel shells for the scraping, but most of us used butter knives.
This is the fibre, which is then plaited together....
...to form a rope.
Other work for the production of the mokihi was also carried out. Here a ranger cuts raupo (bullrushes). Bundles of this are dried then lashed together on a frame of flax stalks.
The flowering stalks of harakeke from the previous season are stacked up awaiting storage. These will provide structure and buoyancy to the mokihi.
The best muka (fibre) is set aside to be used for kete (baskets).
So a very enjoyable, productive day in the early autumn sun. We'll go on to make the boat in the next months, and will hopefully float it across the lake with two willing volunteers later in the year.
Thanks for that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that!
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