Kahu huruhuru style of cloak

Māori treasure kahu huruhuru (feather cloaks) for their beauty and skilful construction - and also because birds are seen as messengers from the spiritual realm. These cloaks became prestigious from the mid 1800s.

Making kahu huruhuru

Making a kahu huruhuru required months of highly specialised work. Weavers created the cloak’s foundation from muka (flax fibre). Into this fabric, they wove the shafts of hundreds of feathers.

When weavers began to incorporate feathers into cloaks, they also experimented with colour and design. They developed an endless array of multicoloured patterns, including geometric designs similar to those of tāniko weaving.

The feathers could be from one species of bird, as with the prestigious kahu kiwi (kiwi-feather cloak), or from a range of birds - both native and introduced.

Spiritual significance of birds

In the Māori world, birds are the children of Tānemahuta (god of the forest) and are messengers between people and gods. Each bird has a mauri (life force) and special qualities, and these become part of a cloak’s essence and personality.

The kiwi holds particular significance. The elusive and mysterious nature of this nocturnal bird gives kahu kiwi greater mana (prestige) than other feather cloaks.

The colour red symbolises leadership and sacredness across the Pacific, and the kahu kākā (kākā-feather cloak), with its red kākā feathers, carries this symbolism. In many stories, ancestors inspired their people to heroic deeds simply by displaying their kahu kākā.

Contemporary feather cloaks

Weavers continue to make feather cloaks today. They often use feathers from birds killed by predators or on motorways, or from exotic species bred commercially.