12/06/2026
Paharakeke - Weaving Community Together🌿💝
Our beautiful pāharakeke has always been more than a place to harvest harakeke. It is a living reminder of the strength that comes from working together.
This week, Paula, Hinga, our four incredible wāhine and lead kairāranga came together to tend to the harakeke, carefully cutting, cleaning, preparing, and sharing the leaves so each could take some home and continue creating.
When our museum team first began working alongside our three hapu, it was the paharakeke that helped bring us together. Through shared mahi, learning, weaving, and korero, relationshipe were built, trust was strengthened, and a community was formed.
The power of collective effort, the generosity of sharing knowledge and resources, and the importance of ensuring everyone has a place within the journey. Makes this act speak to something much deeper, although so simple in appearance.
Like the many leaves of the harakeke growing from a single source, we are strongest when we stand connected in supporting one another, nurturing creativity, and carrying our culture, knowledge, and traditions forward.
As we prepare for the quieter winter months, our kairāranga are gathering and preparing resources for the season ahead. This reflects the teachings of Tupuanuku, a whetu of Matariki, which reminds us to honour the abundance of Papatüanuku and the connections that continue to sustain us.
This was a beautiful reminder that the true gift of the paharakeke is not only found in the harakeke itself, but in the people it brings together.💞
