Kites for Matariki
In ancient Māori traditions, kite flying could symbolize the connections between earth and the heavens; kites were flown to celebrate the rising of Matariki and the beginning of the Māori New Year. Because of my interest in building a kite from traditional materials to fly this Matariki, I have been researching Māori kites and kite-making. Several designs of kites are described in the literature. For example, the ethnographer Eldson Best in his Games and Pastimes of the Māori (1925) describes six kites, their design and usage. Titiri, a Bay of Islands chief who travelled to England, in 1818 drew several pictures of kites. Ref: 7-A3168, 1818, Sir George Grey Special Collections In this drawing, the bird-shaped kite is probably a sacred manu aute, with aute bark covering the frame.The diamond-shaped kite is a manu pātiki, built to represent a flounder. The top and bottom kites in this picture are probably ūpoku tangata, children’s kites, made from ūpoku tangata...