Best. — Clothmg of the Ancient Maori. 635- 



tane Township, on the road to Eua-toki. In White's 

 "Ancient History of the Maori" (vol. 2, p. 163) it is stated 

 that Hinganga-roa built the first carved house from patterns 

 obtained by Rua from Tangaroa (the Polynesian Neptune). 

 The story of Rua and Tangaroa-a-whatu as retained by Tuhoe 

 is of great interest. 



Of the origin of the art of weaving, H. T. Pio, of Ngatiav^a, 

 says, " The first of our ancestors to understand the art of 

 weaving clothing was Hine-rauamoa, who was the wife of 

 Tane-nui-a-rangi. She wove the garments known as kuaira, 

 tawhiri, viaro-waiapic, kuna, and tatohara-nuir' That was the 

 commencement of weaving among men, and the knowledge of 

 weaving and ornamenting cloaks increased as time passed 

 on." Among these ancient garments Pio mentions te kiri a 

 Tane, or tree-bark. This may possibly be a reference to the 

 aute of Polynesia. 



Of the kuaira, Pio says, "He huruhuru no tetahiiwi no 

 mua noa atu o Mataora. He huruhuru 7nanu 2)ea. Ka mahia 

 hai kakahu." The kuaira was (made of) the huruhuru (hair, 

 fur, or feathers) of a very ancient tribe of remote times, of the 

 realm of Mataora. It may have been feathers of birds. It 

 was used for clothing. In Tregear's dictionary " kuara" is 

 given as a sandal. 



While passing through the ceremonies described above, as 

 also those pertaining to the tvhare maire, &c., the novice is not 

 allowed to partake of food, nor even to approach any place 

 where food is cooked, kept, or eaten ; nor may the pupil have 

 any communication with his or her family. Should the rites 

 or lesson not be completed during the first day, then the pupil 

 must either sleep in the lohare where the initiation takes 

 place or else go off and sleep by himself somewhere outside. 

 Wherever he may sleep, he and his sleeping-place are tapu. 

 Not until after the tajnt is taken off may the pupil eat food or 

 retire to his own domestic circle. 



After the flax-fibre has been obtained from the leaf by a 

 scraping, or, rather, stripping, process {hangu, or haro), it is 

 knowm as ivhitau, hitau, or muka. This fibre is then hung 

 up in the sun to bleach, otherwise it will become discoloured 

 {pango, where, or putuai). For the finer class of cloaks, kilts, 

 &c., it is then put through a beating process. The operator 

 takes a hank of the fibre, and, placing it on a stone, beats it 

 with a stone club {patu hitau). This makes the fibre very 

 soft, and tends to bleach it. Fibre intended for the io (warp) 

 is thus treated until quite soft (ngakzmgaku), but not so that 

 intended for aha (woof-threads). The ^ja^»., or stone club, is 

 about 10 in. long, and is well formed, being as symmetrical as 



Tarvhara-mii = a garment of kiekic fibre. 



