Māori Textiles and Ceramics

“Among the most interesting cultural similarities was the historic development of intricately woven cloaks and robes, the Māori traditionally using flax (harakeke) interwoven with bird feathers and the Northwest Coast tribes weaving a blend of mountain-goat wool and cedar bark. For both, weaving and creation were serious and labour-intensive endeavours requiring skills that were passed on from generation to generation.”

Colleen Waata Urlich: “A vessel is a vessel in any context, but the use for which it was designed, the ceremonial or cultural context in which it was created, gives it a particular distinction. Customarily, clay had a specific geneology, and it is to this knowledge, ceremonial and traditional use that contemporary Māori clay workers have returned to give validity to a new art form within a traditionally non-ceramic culture.”

Excerpts from Manawa—Pacific Heartbeat