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Overview
This rare plaited kakahu is the only one of its kind in the Te Papa collection. According to Māori weaving and accademic researcher Dr Patricia Te Arapo Wallace (Ngāti Porou), it may be one of the oldest styled Māori rain capes in existence. There are very few examples in museums, which Wallace suggests may be because they are remnants of an older, now obscure form, or a regional style that was not widely known. In the course of Wallace's research the terms kahu raranga pūputu (closely woven cape) and kōnunu (black flax cloak) were recovered.
This kākahu was deposited into the museum collection by Augustus Hamilton around 1905.
In the Canterbury Museum, there is a similar plaited kākahu which is believed to originate from the Moriori people of Rēkohu/Chatham Islands. It is dyed black with five panels joined together. At the join the overlap of whenu (weaving strands) is left to overlap and hang as a fringe.
Construction
The black dyed harakeke (New Zealand flax) strips are 4mm wide. It is plaited in the same way as a whāriki, or floor mat, with four papa or panels. At each of the joins, the ends of the whenu are left hanging down as a fringe. The height of each panel measured from the top; 13cm, the two middle panels are 20cm and the botton panel is 24cm. The main pattern of weave across the surface is tōroa whakatakoto, a horizontal twill pattern that passes over and under two strips at a time.
To add a subtle complexity, there is also a pattern of māhitiwhiti, which changes the direction of the weave from horizontal to vertical, through the centre of each panel, and a vertical māhitihiti pattern approximately 20 cm in from each side as well as through the centre.
This text is based on an excerpt from Whatu Kakahu|Maori Cloaks (second edition), edited by Awhina Tamarapa, © Te Papa Press 2019.