January 2026
Recently our weaving group spent a day sharing and comparing weaving harakeke / NZ flax, and pandanus with lauhala weaver, Emily Claspell from Hawaii. Harvesting and preparing harakeke is different to the way pandanus is prepared and Emily was keen to participate in the process of harakeke preparation. Compared to Aotearoa, where harakeke grows in abundance almost everywhere, panadanus isn’t widely available in Hawaii, and unfortunately pandanus plants are disappearing as human habitation encroaches on the plantations.
As we each wove a straightforward konae, Emily found that harakeke has ‘more life’ to it, as she put it, than pandanus, and is more slippery to work with, showing why pegs are a very useful item in the harakeke weaver’s kit. An attractive feature of Hawaian weaving is external decoration — Emily used this to decorate the top of her konae. Another decoration, a four-petalled flower, can be seen on the top of the shell of the turtle in the image below, and along the top of a kete.
A traditional item that is woven in Hawaii is a turtle.
This represents the honu or Hawaiin green sea turtle, which is sacred to many Hawaiian families. For some, honu are spiritual guardians — unfortunately they are endangered in Hawaiin waters. We had fun learning how to weave the turtle and some of us wove more at later at home. Finally we spent some time examining the completed sections of the sail we are weaving for a local waka organisation, and discussing the hiki / join and the puareare / pattern.
Emily remarked on how raranga has a strong presence in Aotearoa compared to Hawaii, where it can be difficult to find weavers who want to teach others. However there is a group of dedicated weavers who continue to keep the tradition of lauhala weaving alive. The more we share knowledge and ideas, the more the weaving of both harakeke and lauhala flourishes.
© Ali Brown 2026.
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