Overview
Māori weavers used feathers to adorn cloaks, creating prestigious kahu huruhuru. Discover the beliefs around birds that make these cloaks so special. Find out why certain feathers were chosen and how they were attached.
Feather cloaks
More than a third of Te Papa’s kākahu (cloaks) contain feathers.
Kahu huruhuru have a woven flax-fibre base but are completely covered with feathers. Other cloaks feature feathers as decorative elements attached to the base.
Feather cloaks were rare in the 1700s, but from the mid 1800s, they became more common. From the late 1800s, weavers began to incorporate feathers from exotic species introduced to New Zealand.
Spiritual significance of birds
The mana (prestige) of kahu huruhuru derives from the Māori belief that birds are the children of Tāne (god of the forest), and a messenger between the spiritual and physical realms.
Different kinds of birds have special qualities, and cloaks made from their feathers acquire those qualities. Very rare feathers lend great mana to a cloak and its wearer.
The kiwi, for example, is nocturnal and elusive. Its mysterious nature gives kiwi-feather cloaks particular mana (prestige). Orange or red feathers, like those from the kākā parrot, symbolise leadership. Cloaks with such feathers have a chiefly status.
Weaving with feathers
Weavers chose feathers with great care. They selected them from different parts of the bird, and of different colours, to create particular patterns and effects. The patterns often had symbolic meaning.
The weaver inserted the feathers into the base while weaving it, securing them with two twists of the horizontal thread. They fastened some to lie smoothly. Others, they attached to give a ruffled appearance – the feathers would flutter at the slightest movement.
Feather research – Hokimate Harwood
Researcher Hokimate Harwood has been identifying the feathers in Te Papa’s cloak collection.
A weaver might have woven 6,000 feathers into a single cloak, using various types of feather from the same species in different ways. One cloak in Te Papa’s collection contains more than 12,000 feathers.
Signature feathers
‘Signature feathers’ are particularly interesting. Occasionally, a weaver might have hidden a feather or two of a particular species among all the others. Could these feathers have been the signature of the weaver, or perhaps a hidden message to the wearer?