Sarah George-Glenny, left, Eden and Mareta George Le Comte wear "ei upoko", the Cook Islands head lei.
Sarah George-Glenny, left, Eden and Mareta George Le Comte wear "ei upoko", the Cook Islands head lei.
Aiaikitekura (Aiai) Kavana came to New Zealand when she was 10, till then she had been living with her grandparents in Aitutaki.
During the 1950-60's a number of Cook Islanders, including her mother, had come to Hawke's Bay to work as cook/housekeepers, farmhands, railroad workers and on other labouring jobs.
They formed a small close-knit Cook Islands community here, often joined later by the children they had left behind.
As Aiai grew up with her grandmother she had become steeped in the traditional ways of her Aitutaki village as she sat in on the women's social gatherings.
Under the shade of mango and breadfruit trees she absorbed the stories as the women chatted and stitched tivaivai/tivaevae, their embroidered appliqué work.
The change in the Cook Islanders' lifestyle here meant traditional crafts took a back seat but with the encouragement of her female relatives, Aiai realised that these New Zealand-born Cook Island women had not been taught this unique work.
She sought to change that by introducing them to the tivaivai she learned as a child.
The group meets at the St Andrews Church hall to learn the traditional imagery and sewing techniques of their mothers and grandmothers and is open to women of all ages and ethnicities.
Aiai says her mother's words to her Cook Islands friends were, "If you don't share your skills, when you die they die with you".
"I know my mother and grandmother would be very proud I am doing this."
Hibiscus, frangipani and tiare maori flowers are the first pattern designs for an appliquéd pillowslip.
Applying vibrant colours of their choice on to a plain fabric, a two-colour appliqué known as manu is created.
Each woman chooses the way the flowers will work together, using many folding techniques, the form is cut out, then unfolded to reveal the flower form.
Depending on the size, the base fabric of the tivaivai is spread over a table or floor where together the group tack on the cut-out flower, beginning the making of a family heirloom that reflects their family and cultural traditions.
With the Cook Islands' self-government celebrations in mind the group are showing their hand-stitched treasures at the Hastings Community Art Centre until August 12.
Included with their own work are heritage pieces made by the mothers and grandmothers of members brought here from their homeland; every piece will tell its story and how it connects to the families reflected in the group.
