Hosts all set for weaving hui

GEARED UP: Pare Nathan, making sure there will be "enough of everything" when hundreds of weavers arrive at Ahipara on Friday.

"It's going to be tight," Pare Nathan said on Saturday as final preparations were made for Te Whare Whiri Toi's hosting of the 2015 national weavers' hui at Ahipara.

She was smiling though, confident that more than five years of planning and fundraising had left no stone unturned.

"We're ready. We're just making sure there is enough of everything," she said as she counted cutlery at Roma Marae.

The hui will begin with a powhiri on Friday afternoon, the programme including an open day for the public at Te Rarawa Rugby Club's grounds on Sunday (10am to 3pm).

More than 300 delegates are expected, some 200 of them weavers, from all over the motu.

Accommodation will be provided by Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Pukemiro in Kaitaia, while the weaving itself will take place under a huge marquee at the rugby ground.

Mrs Nathan, who can take considerable credit for the renaissance of traditional Maori weaving, said the art was in good health.

The older generation was now "moving on" but a lot of younger people were taking it up, thanks in large part to the role played by polytechnics around the country.

"I'm delighted to see that. We have to keep it going," she said.

Whoever was interested, Maori or Pakeha, would always be welcome to learn the basic skills, the dyes and techniques, she added. "Then we let them go." Tradition still provided the foundation, but the art was evolving, and that was a very healthy sign for its future.

The biennial hui would also provide the opportunity to pay tribute to those who had paved the way for the revival of the ancient art, including the Far North's 'aunties' Florrie Berghan, Lydia Smith and Saana Murray.