Weaving

Weaving is a common practice across the Pacific region. Using leaves from a variety of plants, for example, coconut palm and pandanus, to create resources and items as much for functional, everyday use such as food baskets, mats, fans, hats, fishing traps, nets, and roof thatching, as it is for ceremonial practices such as fine mats and ceremonial clothing.

Weaving is an intergenerational skill and is an expression of Pacific identity and creativity. Children learn about weaving from an early age as they are involved in everyday activities in the village.

Traditionally weaving was taught within families usually by an aunt, mother, or grandmother. As Pacific families migrate to Aotearoa they share their specialist knowledge and skills about weaving to sustain this cultural practice. Weaving is an opportunity for children to learn through the language and cultural narratives of the weavers. Mathematical concepts such as over, under, through, across, and counting the weaving pattern are valued in the weaving process.

Different Pacific Islands are renowned for their specialist weaving practices, for example, ta’ovala, a mat worn around the body from Tonga and ietoga, the fine mats gifted at ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals and special village/church events in Samoa. Whaka Ha’apai is a process of soaking branches in the sea and removing the bark to weave a waistband or folding to create flowers. It is unique to the Tongan island of Ha’apai.

Using a variety of woven items in early childhood environments affirms and connects children to their culture

How do we apply it in practice?

View the weaving video and consider how you are supporting Pacific learners to know their identities, languages, and cultures through weaving.

In this video, you will see and hear tamaiti and kaiako involved in meaningful weaving experiences from different Pacific cultures.

Kaiako share the ways they embed weaving in everyday experiences and routines with tamaiti as part of their local curriculum design. They promote the use of cultural artefacts (fine mats, baskets, dancing skirts) to enhance tamaiti involvement in weaving experiences in authentic ways. Kaiako of Pacific heritages also share weaving from their cultures with tamaiti.

Transcript

Kaiako and tamariki singing and dancing
“Ta ta la la. Chu! Ta ta la la. Ta ta la la. Chu! Ta ta la la.
Ta ta la la. Ta ta la la. Chu!”
Kaiako and tamariki weaving
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
With art that the…
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
…children create or make within the centre, we believe that talanoa is the best way to communicate or…
Tamariki and kaiako sitting on mat
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
…to make that bond with our children. By assessing them, we look at what is meaningful to them.
Whether it's small or big, or it might…
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
…not have any meaning to us, but if it's meaningful to them, that's what we look at.
Tamariki and kaiako singing
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
How does what they create define who they are as a person?
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
You know, with the Te Whāriki,
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
… with the exploration, it's all in the arts.
Tamariki decorating ietoga
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
The children are exploring, like today, the fine mats, and they’re exploring how to put the feathers on. And then extending it to a process… doing that sula and…
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
You know, it’s something new to some of the children looking at this.
Displaying the ietoga
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
Because they see this in funerals and weddings and it's mainly to do with adults.
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
But now they have experienced that and presently they are doing the sula at the back,
Tamariki displaying the sula
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
…which is the exploration.
Tamariki displaying the sula
“Le tama'ita'i e, o lau fatufugaga
Talofa ua e sautia i le ala
Talu ai ita le tagata leaga
Finau iā Sina le mālama
Mea ia ua aave ona tala
Ua so'o ai Samoa ma le atuvasa
E lē so'ona tātāla
Se'iloga e fa'ae'e pāpā
O le mālo o ia tā'ua
Ua afu ai ita le tu'ua”
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
We do a lot of weaving.
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, speaking to camera:
The children that has been here for a while, the older ones, they picked up a lot. So you can tell the difference between the style of weaving, you know. Some would just come and touch, some would be interested in actually…
Tamariki weaving
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
…pulling the leaves off and sitting there and wanting to be part of this activity. It’s because they have prior knowledge. They've already, you know, had a few of these leaves and they know what it's for.
Pasifika art and artefacts
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, voiceover:
We usually include our Tokelau traditional arts in our programme planning and then we use the natural resources from home. So we can use that for our…
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, speaking to camera:
…art as well for our tamariki to make sure they learn the Tokelau way of weaving.
Tamariki dressing in dance skirts
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, voiceover:
We explain to them what is important with their culture as well and where that come from as well. And why we use that for our arts, for our resources here in New Zealand.
Tamariki dancing and singing
“Auē kapaku! Auē kapaku!
E gau te uā. E gau te uā
Auē kapaku!
Tahi, lua, tolu, fa Chuuuu!”
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
We use natural resources. So it's important…
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, speaking to camera:
…that we use leaves for the skirts for dancing. We use sea leaves. There are also coconut leaves that we can use. But we particularly use sea leaves today, and also we use flax.
Tamariki in flax dance skirts
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
So we improvise. We don't use flax in Niue, but because flax is also for weaving, we use flax as that to improvise what we have back in Niue.
Tamariki learning a Niuean dance
“Hake kei he lagi i luga.
Kei hi po ke pu i lalo fonua.
Monu, monu, Tagaloa Niue!”
Display of faka ha'apai
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
This one here is called faka ha'apai. It's named after our Island in Tonga, but it's made from the tree barks.
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, speaking to camera:
When we cut them, the plants, we take them and put in the sea for some weeks.
Dried tree bark and artwork
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
Then we bring out and take out the bark from the stick. And we dried in the sun and after that we dying with the clothes dye. And we get the colour like that.
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, speaking to camera:
We are making it for our 'taʻovala but mostly making it for the faiva.
Tamariki and kaiako singing, dancing
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
I think we are showing to the children. And we can bring some bark and let the children do play on that. And when they get finished, they can tie in their waist. And they knows that this is a Tongan 'taʻovala, mm, 'kiekie'.
Kaiako weaving
Rosie, Kew Pacific Preschool, voiceover:
I brought my mom in here, now and then, to help us out and show us some skills that I need to learn.
And also that…
Rosie, Kew Pacific Preschool, speaking to camera:
…the children can enjoy as part of their learning. It helps… it's incorporated into Te Whāriki as well with our fine motor skills and weaving is, um, mats,
Kaiako and tamariki weaving
Rosie, Kew Pacific Preschool, voiceover:
…and over and under. All these things that involved in the arts and crafts. Yes. So these things aren't something that you read and pick it up, but it's passed on as more to do with, like, the songs, the stories, oratory.
Rosie, Kew Pacific Preschool, speaking to camera:
You, they passed on with, by mouth, through ancestors and seeing and experiencing. You have to do it or listen to it to be able to get it to pass it on and carry it on to the next generation.
Tamariki drawing
Rosie, Kew Pacific Preschool, voiceover:
Yes. So that's how we learn. It's part of our culture.
Kaiako weaving
George, Berhampore – Te Punanga O Te Reo Kuki Airani, voiceover:
I used to sit next to the elders and watch them do…
George, Berhampore – Te Punanga O Te Reo Kuki Airani, speaking to camera:
…what they were trying to teach me. And so I think that's what we're trying to do here, is we have…
Kaiako teaching tamariki weaving
George, Berhampore – Te Punanga O Te Reo Kuki Airani, voiceover:
…our mamas to show our children. So hopefully they can gain that knowledge as well and hopefully, get a sense of belonging.
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
I've seen my mum and my grandma make items as well from not getting that authenticity from Tonga. Simply just running to the coin save shop to get the…
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, speaking to camera:
…cheap string or trying to make something out of,
Kaiako making paper headwear
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
… for example, for ha'apai. To make it look Tongan – Tonganize it.
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
It's all different learning levels…
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
…for every child. No child is the same. They've come with…
Shots of individual tamariki
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
…different experiences from their background at home. And we hope that what we are doing over here is extending that knowledge for these children that have not experienced the same…
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
…with the children that they got their grandparents and uncles and aunties that…
Kaiako and tamariki playing instruments
Sofaea, Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
…came from Samoa, that know the process of doing these things.
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
There’s so much more to art than what we think. So we do it through language.
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, speaking to camera:
The respect Tongans have with their art. You see it in our… what we wear.
Kaiako and tamariki singing
Kaiako, Tonga AKL – Akoteu Falemasiva, voiceover:
It signifies respect for our visitors, for our colleagues and workmates, our children. That's how we bring artwork to our centre.
Kaiako and tamariki singing
“I K L I K L
M NG O P S
M Ng O P S
T U V”
Tokelauan artwork
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, voiceover:
We have to make sure our art, that our traditional art, Tokelau,
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, speaking to camera:
…make sure it’s involved in our everyday practice.
Tokelauan artwork
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, voiceover:
And to make sure that we can strengthen our inati and also that our community can be involved with that learning to make sure to support their children.
Rita, Matiti Tokelau Akoga Kamata, speaking to camera:
And the children to make sure that they grow up, you know, they know where they come from.
Flag of Niue; Pasifika artefacts
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
When we talk about art, it's not all about drawing.
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, speaking to camera:
It's also when you do that, you know, when you make that sisi, that's art.
Tamariki in costume, playing music
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
So when you complete the sisi, it moves on to then, culture comes in because children would wear it and perform a Niue dance.
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, speaking to camera
Because that's our cultural costume. So that's art for us. We may not display it on the wall, but that is how we…
Kaiako and tamariki singing
Kaiako, Nukutukulea Aoga Niue, voiceover:
…display our art by children performing.
Kaiako and tamariki singing
“E lelei ko te Atua.
Ika ika tuna tuna,
kaimoana e!”
Tamariki painting
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
Art is anything that the children create. So it can be anything in general, whether it's on paper or something that they say. We take art as…
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), speaking to camera:
…anything creative or anything that comes from a child's imagination, doesn't have to be on paper. So it could be said…
Tamariki playing instruments
Pereise, Otahuhu – Seugagogo A'oga Amata (Akld), voiceover:
…or what they show – body language or facial emotions. The way they express themselves is art to us.

Ideas for your service

A significant feature relating to the transferring of cultural knowledge through weaving is the concept of tei laititi-tei matua, like the Cook Island Māori concept of tuakana-teina, where older tamaiti take on the role of teaching younger tamaiti. It is critical that kaiako honour the personal cultural knowledge and experiences that Pacific tamaiti bring with them to the early childhood service and provide opportunities for tamaiti to use this knowledge to strengthen their sense of their identities, languages, cultures, belonging, and wellbeing.

Consider the ways you plan your environment to promote and foster the use of woven items, for example, baskets to store and present resources in your service.
Invite an elder, family member, or tamaiti to talk about how weaving materials may be prepared in the islands. Sometimes this is by soaking, scraping, or beating the leaves to make them more pliable. Tamaiti can have a go, using small rocks or mussel or paua shells, and see how the leaves change as they are worked.
Provide square wooden frames with strings attached vertically. Tamaiti can weave smaller flexible objects like leaves, feathers, or ribbons through the strings.
As a team, learn about cultural practices that involve woven objects. Think about the significant activities you were involved in as a child, or that tamaiti are involved in now. In the video, the Aoga Amata involves the children in creating a pattern of chicken feathers across the fine mat and then carrying it as if at a funeral or wedding and kaiako describing the process of Whaka Ha’apai.
Many Pacific cultures have woven objects that are presented or used on special occasions, like ietoga and ta’ovala. Letting tamaiti explore these rituals means they are making sense of what they see adults do, as well as seeing the connection with weaving in their lives here in Aotearoa.
Think about the ways you can invite children and their fanau to share cultural resources and materials they may no longer be using and repurpose them for an art activity.
Use resources that are easy for you to source in your local community, and substitute when you can’t get authentic materials. Create a collection point at the centre where families can leave found materials that you could use for arts.

Reflective questions

In your service:

What regular opportunities do children have to experience weaving from their own and other cultures?
How can you engage in conversations with tamaiti to grow their awareness of weaving in their surroundings?
What do you know about specialist weaving practices from different Pacific Islands? Samoan ietoga (fine mats), Tongan ta’ovala (belt worn around the body), Cook Island ‘ei katu (woven headband) Niuean pulou (hat), Kahoa hihi (woven necklaces), Tokelauan titi (woven dance skirt)? How can you share this with tamaiti to connect them to the weaving practices from different Pacific Islands?
How are you intentionally bringing children's attention to mathematical concepts, for example, repeating patterns, counting weaves, and sorting threads?
How could you discover the aspirations parents and families have for their tamaiti in the arts?

These reflective questions and provocations remind us of the holistic ways that the four key Pacific art areas are interconnected and woven together.

Knowing your tamaiti and their families and community well, and allowing them to explore their languages, cultures and identities through weaving, gives them the tools to explore their connections to the past as well as where they are right now.

Each Pacific heritage has its own unique way of looking at the world - explaining the world through woven objects is common to all pacific cultures. The continuation and growth of weaving over time and their continued use in rituals and everyday life has helped to keep languages, cultures, and identities alive.

Papata pē, ka na’e lalanga

It may be coarse in texture but it was woven

Tongan proverb