When I called in to visit the very beautiful
Ngati Kahungunu Marae in the tiny Eastland village of
Nuhaka back in May, I was particularly drawn to the stunning
tukutuku panels that lined the walls of the main
wharenui (meeting house). They seemed more intricate and more elaborate than most I had seen previously and my lovely host that morning – the marae caretaker,
Cairo Otene – let me take photographs of them. Two of those are shown above.
But then I remembered the equally memorable
Whare Runanga on Northland’s Waitangi Treaty Grounds. There too, I had been captivated by the
tukutuku (above and below). In this case, the panels lining the walls represent all the
iwi (tribes) of New Zealand, with their
individual patterns record the stories of individual hapu. Tukutuku I should point out, refers to the intricate lattice work panels that are almost always found in Maori meeting houses. They are made by weaving horizontal battens to a backing of vertical poles (
toetoe reeds for example) with dyed or bleached
harakeke (flax) or
kiekie and the yellow-orange
pingao fibre,
in detailed and distinctive patterns. Often the battens are painted to introduce another element to the overall design. The making of tukutuku panels has traditionally been women’s work
There are many traditional tukutuku designs that represent various objects. A diamond shape for instance can represent the
patiki or flounder (fish) and zigzag patterns the
kaokao or ribs. A triangle is called
niho taniwha, or monster’s teeth – a taniwha is said to be a mythical sea or river monster in Maori lore. In the
Waitangi Whare Runanga, the tukutuku panels (like the carved
poupou) are arranged in pairs down opposite sides of the house, each pair the work of a different iwi group.
Lattice panels, or tukutuku, are traditional features of any wharenui (meeting house). These intricate designs are formed (usually by the women of the tribe), by crossed stems/stalks/poles, held together by elaborate and decorative cross stitching created from strips of flax, or certain kinds of grass like orange-tinted pingao or bleached kiekie. The horizontal patterns are seen from the front and the verticals remain hidden at the rear. Modern tukuktuku, like that shown below, often incorporate a far wider range of colours - just as carvings and marae paintings often do. Multiple patterns are recurring in traditional tukutuku. The Niho taniwha for instance (teeth of the monster) uses chevron forms to allude to monster's teeth; and the Patiki (flounder) is a diamond form, which resembles the shape of the sand flounder, a common New Zealand estuary fish prized by Maori. If you'd like to see other examples of tukutuku weaving, click on the word Tukutuku in the label line below.
When I called in to visit the very beautiful Ngati Kahungunu Marae in the tiny Eastland village of Nuhaka back in May, I was particularly drawn to the stunning tukutuku panels that lined the walls of the main wharenui (meeting house). They seemed more intricate and more elaborate than most I had seen previously and my lovely host that morning – the marae caretaker, Cairo Otene – let me take photographs of them. Two of those are shown above. 
But then I remembered the equally memorable Whare Runanga on Northland’s Waitangi Treaty Grounds. There too, I had been captivated by the tukutuku (above and below). In this case, the panels lining the walls represent all the iwi (tribes) of New Zealand, with their individual patterns record the stories of individual hapu. Tukutuku I should point out, refers to the intricate lattice work panels that are almost always found in Maori meeting houses. They are made by weaving horizontal battens to a backing of vertical poles (toetoe reeds for example) with dyed or bleached harakeke (flax) or kiekie and the yellow-orange pingao fibre, in detailed and distinctive patterns. Often the battens are painted to introduce another element to the overall design. The making of tukutuku panels has traditionally been women’s work
There are many traditional tukutuku designs that represent various objects. A diamond shape for instance can represent the patiki or flounder (fish) and zigzag patterns the kaokao or ribs. A triangle is called niho taniwha, or monster’s teeth – a taniwha is said to be a mythical sea or river monster in Maori lore. In the Waitangi Whare Runanga, the tukutuku panels (like the carved poupou) are arranged in pairs down opposite sides of the house, each pair the work of a different iwi group.
National Museum Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. April 2009. Ajr 
