Rawinia’s cloak - continuing connections

This kahu huruhuru (kiwi-feather cloak) connects well-known Māori weaver and leader Rawinia Ngāwaka Tukeke with her living descendants, including the Sciascia and Tūtaki whānau (families).

Leader in a time of change

Rawinia was a leading woman of the tribes Ngāti Kere, Ngāti Hinetewai, and Ngāti Pīhere through times of rapid change. According to her descendant Piri Sciascia, she ‘embraced Pākehā [European] settlers … She adopted the first European baby to be seen by her people.’

A political gift

In the mid 1850s, Rawinia presented this cloak to James Henry St Hill (1807–66), a member of the Legislative Council (Upper House) of Parliament. She is said to have thrown the cloak at his feet, in a gesture that may have been linked to land settlement.

The cloak passed to St Hill’s widow and four other owners before coming into the care of the national museum.

Honouring an ancestor

On 6 May 2012, the Tūtaki whanau honoured their connection with Rawinia, who died about 1900, by naming her cloak. They chose the name Pīata – that of Rawinia’s mother – which means bright, or to shine. The ceremony took place in the family's wharenui (meeting house), Te Poho o Kahungunu, at Rongomaraeroa marae, Pōrangahau.