Page 259 - Constructing Craft

Chapter Fourteen: Māori Craft

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century there was a growing realisation by

Māori that the preservation of their culture was ultimately in their hands. Māori craft,

an essential element of Māori culture, did not fit into the European economic model
because it had traditionally been produced for social and cultural reasons as much

as economic necessity. Individual Māori craftspeople worked as part of a social and
cultural cooperative and usually did not receive payment based on their individual

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output. Furthermore, because of the mana of Māori craftspeople and the
association of many craft objects with sacred events, these items were considered

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tapu . For these reasons, many Māori found the commoditisation of their craft
culturally offensive. In the environment of the post-Second World War craft
movement these concepts conflicted with the dominant European model.

Catalysts for Change

A 1983 study of the craft ‘industry’ devoted a section of the final report to Māori

craft. The study discovered it was very difficult to find any Māori craftspeople that
could be classified within the standard European economic model, that is, earning

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more than $2000 a year individually from their craft. Nevertheless, changes were
taking place and by the 1980s social and economic changes had altered the way

Māori interacted with New Zealand society generally and more Māori craftspeople

were approaching craft in the European manner. These changes were influenced by
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the urbanisation of Māori society between the 1950s and 1970s. The secularisation
of Māori society had diminished the strength of tapu and had disrupted the division
of labour which had traditionally been based on gender. But it allowed new, and

often younger, urban-based craftspeople to engage in the making of craft. Their

work was referenced to traditional craft but usually was not produced in traditional
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ways or produced on the marae . Māori craftspeople who had trained in more
traditional ways did, however, have concerns about these developments. Diggeress
Te Kanawa, a renowned weaver, for instance, expressed her unease in a 1982

article called ‘Keeping Alive Korowai Weaving’: ‘Although many young girls learnt

the skills [of weaving] ... , once they grew older they didn’t have the time or

Constructing Craft