Harvesting Kuta and Kiekie

Yesterday  Nga Here Kahikatea was privileged enough to go to lake Ianthe, with Matua Joe,Gordy,Whaea Kylie and Nixon ( a grandson of Matua Joe). 

It was an hour and a half long trip to get there. Once we got there  Matua Joe told us to start with a Karakia to thank the atua for giving us this useful resource. After we did the Karakia we got onto getting the Kuta. Matua Joe said the longer the better for the weaving.Matua Joe explained how to get it from the root/bottom of the water.  Then the boys went right into the cold water.After they found the bottom  they pulled it forcefully but not too hard so it didn’t snap in half. After we collected the Kuta Matua Joe had put it into a tarp so it could be protected. Once we finished getting the Kuta Whaea Kylie told us to get in a circle and say one thing we learned about it. 

When we finished getting Kuta we moved onto getting Kiekie. Matua Joe explained how to get the Kiekie and what to do with it which was pulling the white bits off because those are the things that are useful. To get the Kiekie one student had to volunteer, Morgan decided that he wanted to do it. Morgan went not too far in the bush and he found some nice and healthy Kiekie.  Matua Joe also said the darker and richer it is the  better it will be .After he found it he grabbed the bottom and pulled the stem off the tree. After we collected the Kiekie we put it into a pile. After that we grabbed one or more pieces of Kiekie each and  started to pick the dark green leaves off and pull the middle white strands out of the plant. After we finished doing that we gave the good white strands to Matua Joe for him to keep them protected for the weaving.  

With the Kuta and Kiekie we are drying them out and weaving them into mats. This is going to help us with our learning background of harvesting and weaving plants.