Kaitaka huaki paepaeroa (cloak with double tāniko borders)

Kaitaka huaki are fine flax cloaks with two, or sometimes three, lower borders of taniko (geometric patterning) that give the appearance of multiple cloaks when worn. Kaitaka paepaeroa are kaitaka that feature aho (weft rows) that are worn vertically as oposed to horizontally, which is more common in Māori cloak weaving. This particular kaitaka, is both a kaitaka huaki and a kaitaka paepaeroa and displays several unusual features that make it unique.

The weaver has experimented by placing three tāniko strips vertically along the body of the cloak rather than horizontally and by adding horizontal bands of dyed muka (New Zealand flax fibre).

The cloaks lower borders are also intriguing, both are narrower than usual. The weaver has cleverly placed the top strip of tāniko to suggest that the cloak is double layered. This classic huaki feature creates a grand effect without the weaver having to create the extra layer.


A North American influence
Weaver Maureen Lander suggests that the sets of stripes and short taniko inserts of different lengths incorporated into the lower mid section could be an influence from Hudson Bay point blankets. These were wool blankets manufactured in England and primarily traded to First Nations people by the Hudson Bay Company in western British North America and the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Indigo lines, called points, were stitched into the sides of the blanket to indicate size.

Construction
The kaupapa (foundation) of the kaitaka is muka (flax fibre), weft-twined in whatu aho rua (double-pair weft twining) technique. The whenu (vertical threads, or warp) measure nine per centimetre, with 10 mm spacing between each aho. The aho poka, or short shaping rows, are two lateral wedge inserts: five rows of poka (darts) at the left and four at the right. The top edge has four rolled whenu tapiri – long whenu dyed black and brown – twisted in . The whenu for the taniko on the side borders are a continuation of the whenu from the kaupapa of the kaitaka. The width of the taniko side borders are 55-60 mm. The inserts of taniko are 37-40 mm width.


A Possible Connection?
An unfinnished kaitaka of similar style is in the Kunstkamera Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The cloak and other taonga were collected in 1820 from the areas around Queen Charlotte Sound by the Russian Bellingshausen Antarctic Expedition. Although unfinished, the cloak also has 'stripes' of horizontal bands parallel to each other at one corner, and plaited, patterned edging.

This text is based on an excerpt from Whatu Kakahu|Maori Cloaks (second edition), edited by Awhina Tamarapa, © Te Papa Press 2019.