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Marcellin College
My Cultural Heritage
Niuean weaving
Hello! My name is Louise and I am Niuean, but I was born in New Zealand. So that makes me a Kiwi-born Niuean.
My parents were both born in the island of Niue, where they came from different villages. Niue is only a little island with a population of about 600-700 people. Niue is best known as the 'Rock', because it’s like an island sitting on a rock. Niue is also known for its fertile soil, especially for growing crops. My heritage project is based on Niuean weaving traditions.
Weaving hats
Weaving in Niue is a tradition, especially making hats. Niuean women are very fond of hats, and love the many spectacular designs. Wearing hats is a part of fashion, pride, beauty, and the Niuean people’s dignity.
The hats are made in different sizes and shapes, with all sorts of creative designs. Women’s fellowship groups gather together to contribute and share their talents with other women in the group. On the island, weaving for some women is a lifetime occupation or hobby. Sometimes at markets they sell hats as well as give them away as gifts. There is a lot to learn about weaving and the techniques of weaving.
My family in Niue loves weaving and love to send hats over to New Zealand. They also send printed t-shirts and artificial flowers as gifts. I remember when my aunties, uncles, or cousins came over, they brought goodies such as hats.
Over here in New Zealand, our church groups have their own weaving gatherings. At our parish (the Pacific Islander’s Presbyterian Church in Otara), the women’s group have weekly sessions on Wednesday mornings. They help and learn off each other, also helping those who are unfamiliar with the weaving patterns. The women also make artificial flowers and baskets.
Learning to weave
You’re probably wondering how hard weaving is. How long does it take to complete one item? How long does it take to learn how to weave?
Well, from my experience, weaving is not hard. It may be difficult to start off, but somewhere along the line you’ll get the hang of it quite quickly.
How long does it take? Well it will depend on what you’re making - hats, fans, mats, etc. It will probably take about one day, depending on how complicated the design and patterns are. For most women, learning to weave is done by observing and practice.
Materials
The traditional material used for weaving is the pandanus leaf, which is like flax. These leaves are dried and can be dyed black. Preparing these takes time, because they have to be picked from the tree, the thorns removed, and then trimmed into strips. They are left to dry in the sun continuously for about two to three weeks. Then they are rolled into reels and stored.
Having natural materials exported to New Zealand is hard because of all the costs involved. The Niuean women love their weaving, so they make do with recycled plastics to weave baskets, hats, and fruit bowls. We want to carry on learning the tradition of weaving because it is unique to where our ancestors came from.
Other items
Other items that can be made using weaving techniques include jewellery(like bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces, flower leis, and artificial flowers), placemats, wall decorations, fruit bowls, floor mats and fans for hot days. I hope that our younger generations carry this tradition on.
By Louise Alapaki
Our questions answered
Our class wrote to Rob Hekau (who manages the Niue Museum) to find out more about Niuean hats. The following are our questions and his answers.
1. What special techniques are used to make the hats?
This all depends on the types of fibre that they use, but the main fibre they work with is the pandanus. They have different ways of preparing the pandanus fibres to get different shades and colours.
2. Are there any new materials that are used to make hats in Niue?
Today the ladies do work with other types of materials, such as raffia, ribbons and plastic.
3. Were hats made before Europeans arrived?
Hats were always made in Niue before the Europeans arrived, but afterwards different styles were developed and different materials were used.
4. Where are the hats sold ?
We have craft shops in town and the ladies normally weave for these shops, which sell the hats locally or send them to overseas markets.
5. Is it easy to find fine hats in Niue?
It is very hard to find fine hats in Niue, because they are always in high demand and the people that weave them have moved to New Zealand. Very few people on the island make them now.
6. Do men make hats too?
Men do weave as well, but the older generation who wove fine hats have passed on, and now the men only weave the simple hat from coconut leaves for everyday use out on their farms.
7. Do men wear fine hats too? If so, where do they wear them?
Men do wear fine hats. These are mainly woven by women. Men wear them to special occasions or functions, but not to church as some women-folk do.
8. How long does it take to weave a fine hat?
Some experienced weavers can make a hat in one day if they concentrate, but it normally takes three to five days.
This is a photograph of Louisa's Niuean hat.
Photograph Copyright Lyn Potter 2003
