Hands on Tauranga offers students stimulating and original learning opportunities with real museum objects that support the New Zealand curriculum at primary and secondary school level.
Wooden harakeke (flax) pounder made from Manuka.
Patu means to hit or strike. Muka is the fibre from the harakeke leaves.
The patu muka (flax pounder) was used to pound the inner fibres of the harakeke. Harakeke had numerous uses including clothing, hunting, mats, plates, ropes, baskets, fishing lines, fishing nets and medicine.
Muka was the primary fibre used for weaving clothing, and was also used for making ropes and cords. Prepared by scraping, pounding and washing, it is a key material in māori traditional textiles where it is also used in tāniko or twined weaving.
Mussel shells were used to separate the fleshy part of the leaf from the fibre. Commercial extraction of flax fibre in New Zealand began with the invention of flax mills in 1860 and continued until 1970 when synthetic fibres took over.
Find out more ...
> Native plants and their traditional uses by māori https://www.otago.ac.nz/marine-studies/resources/download/otago062823.pdf
> Flax and Flax Working https://teara.govt.nz/en/flax-and-flax-working
date: 1700
max dimension: 275mm
subject area: Social Science, Maori and Pacifica, The Arts
specific themes: Māori, taonga, weaving, harakeke, Te Taiao
handling collection number: HC83
