Korowai .... A flowing vision of great beauty that can
only be produced from woman who hold great mana and passion for this wonderful
art. Okay so that's what I've always
thought when watching woman such as my mother, my grandmother and my grand aunt
make Korowai. Something I thought I
would never achieve.
About 7 years ago I was approached by my good friend
Dora Rangitaawa - she wanted to learn the art of korowai and she wanted my
mother to teach her. Dora had heard that
mum had been teaching korowai for many years on the traditional methods that
had been passed down to her from her grand aunt, nanny iti, who had been taught
by her grandaunt. I simply said, I'll
talk to mum and see when her next korowai hui would be and get mum to include
her. Slap, punch, kick - wtf? Dora looked at me with those piecing eyes and
without saying a word I knew that she wanted me to learn with her. "Korowai isn't for me" I said,
"I'm not ready".
As the days went by, I asked mum about her next hui and
the fact Dora wanted me to learn with her.
"You are ready" my mother said, "but the choice is yours
- when you feel it's time, then it's time". “Grrrrr!!
Why the philosophical messages?
My life is too busy as it is, I don’t have time” I silently thought to
myself.
As the weeks went by another friend - Sheryl Peters
said she wanted to learn korowai, then more friends - Haley Bell & her
sister Megan Bell. “Four friends want to
do korowai?” I asked myself “four friends, that want me to learn this art with
them? Four friends who lead very different lifestyles than mine, but all
contribute to my life in their own individual and very special way” …….. I sat
back and gave into the idea "Korowai …….. okay, I'll do it".
So on the weekend of 12th October 2007, 6 of us headed over
to Matarangi to partake in our first korowai course with my mother. Haley, Sheryl, Megan, Dora, myself and even
my sister Deanne. We lived and breathed korowai for the entire weekend and
although none of us completed our first project, we did all come away with over
half completed.
On a personal note, I found it extremely
therapeutic. Why? The work I do means constantly having 101
thoughts running through my mind – meeting deadlines, saving costs, introducing
innovative ways of keeping on top of the market, retiring older technology –
and then having to deal with home life and other community commitments. Most of the time my day generally catches up
to me about 9 am the next morning.
Korowai was a whole different experience that I thoroughly enjoyed. Totally stress free. So uncanny that only one thought went
through my mine all weekend ………. Korowai.
The weekend wasn’t without it’s downfalls of course,
with a number of us being totally unrealistic about our expectations it
definitely showed in our work or should I say didn’t show. In my mothers words “the korowai can feel
when your heart isn’t in your work so it won’t grow”. This may not make sense to a lot of people
but it definitely was something some people experienced on the weekend. We learnt to mentally and spiritually cleanse
our minds to finally get the results we had set at the beginning of the
weekend.
During this experience I learnt things that I didn’t
know about my mother. I’ve always known
that under that tuff exterior there is a woman with a heart of gold who gives
everything she can possibly give and more when it comes to helping people. I learnt that my mother has gifted her
korowai to iwi all over the country and to people she feels is important to her
in her life. It bought tears to my eyes
to listen to my mother speak about her experience in making a special korowai
for The Lady and seeing the emotion that overwhelmed my mother when she told us
of when she presented her toanga to her toanga in an informal manner during the
lady’s 40th koroneihana. I
take great pride in knowing that Te Arikinui hung my mothers korowai in
Mahinerangi. I remember seeing this
korowai the night the lady passed and again during the 2007 koroneihana when it
was worn during the christening ceremony.
I remember thinking how beautiful the korowai was, but never knew that
it was my mother who made it.
It was breathtaking to hear her speak on her
experiences, yet quite heartbreaking to know that she hadn’t shared this with
me. I wanted to shout from the roof tops
and tell the whole world how wonderful my mother is and how much she had done
for people, but I know deep down inside that isn’t my mother. She’s not one to gloat about her achievements
and I know that she would not have told us unless we specifically asked the
right questions.
Because there were only a handful of people present
when my mother gave the korowai to the lady, I’m not sure whether people today
know that my mother made it. It pleases
me to know that my mother will always live on at Turangawaewae even after she
is gone and I know that when her mokopuna see the korowai they will always be
reminded of my mother even if everyone else isn’t.
Overall, the weekend was a fascinating experience to
understand just how much work is involved in such a beautiful outcome and to
watch your korowai “grow” and eventually let it tell a story to you. Although all students worked with exactly the
same materials it was amazing to see just how different each one was. For me it was extremely uplifting to finally
experience this wonderful skill that my mother has been silently achieving over
the many years and just quietly I believe she has been waiting for her
daughters to finally share in something she enjoys doing so much and provides
so much gratitude to so many people who know her.
Coming away from the weekend, all 6 of us have
committed to complete what we have started, and set small achievable goals for
each other to start a whanau korowai in November. Road kill is now viewed as future potential
and we are even talking about a trip to the Chatham Islands
to partake in the weka hunt. Who knows
whether that trip will eventuate, but nevertheless, the weekend has definitely
changed my outlook on life and korowai has bought 6 friends closer than ever.
So ………….. Am I a woman who holds great mana and passion
for korowai like the woman I have witnessed in my past? I don’t know about mana, but I have
definitely developed a passion for korowai and feel a tremendous sense of pride
knowing I can sit with my mother and enjoy the same experience with her even if
I don’t believe I’m at the stage where I can sit alongside her just yet.
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| My Whanau Korowai - completed 2012 |
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