Group of Māori women gather to weave Wahakura for the community.
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Click here for English translation Ko te whatu wahakura e parangia ai te pēpi ki te moe te pūtake e koke whakamua ai tētehi kāhui mahi toi me te huhua hoki o ngā taura o tā rātou kōpere .
Ko Ngā Ara o Tāpora tēnei rōpū. Ko Ramoana Te Are rātou ko Tessa Marks ko Brydie Wharerau-Tukiwaho ēnei wāhine kakama. Ki te wharekai o Te Whakarewarewa e kitea ai ēnei rangatira, whoi anō kātahi nei rātou kia oti i tētehi kaupapa e rua rā te roa ka whai wā ki te kōrerorero.
I tua atu i te whakaatu i ngā mahi toi he kaupapa whakaakiaki ngā tangata ki te raranga ki te whatu hoki. Nō te kaupeka kua pāhemo atu ka whakatūria ai tēnei rōpū hai ohaoha taratī, me te tini hoki o ngā kaupapa kai te whakaakongia, pēnei i te raranga kete, te mahi kono me te whatu piupiu.
E pūare ana tō rātou rōpū ki ngā māmā e hapū ana ki te whatu wahakura, he wā tino pai rawa atu hoki tēnei ki te whakawhiti kōrero tahi me ngā māmā mō ngā kaupapa tiaki pēpi me te titiro ki ngā tikanga whakamoe pēpi. I Apumoana tēnei kaupapa a hapū māmā.
He manuao, he pouawhina hoki mā Plunket a Brydie, whai pānga atu ai ia ki a Tūhourangi – Ngāti Wāhiao, he wāhanga ōna nō Taranaki, Ngai Tahu me Nga Puhi hoki. I timatahia aitēnei rōpū i te Tuara Totara o Fordlands i raro i ngā paihau o Plunket i te tau rua mano tekau mā whitu he kaupapa i atawhaitia ā pūtea nei e Tindall tae noa ki te Akuwhata o te tau rua mano, rua tekau.
Kua hūnuku rātou i te hāpori o Fordlands engari ki te karangahia rātou ki te wānanga ka wānanga rātou. Ki te tonoa hoki he wahakura e te DHB ka tahuri rātou ki te whatu. Whoi anō, mō tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira i tonoa rātou e te National SUDI Prevention Co-ordination Service ara ko Hapai Te Hau Ora. Ko te ōta he mea nui e toru tekau mā rima ngā wahakura me ngā moenga me te tuku mātauranga whakamoe pēpi tika hoki i ia wahakura.
Nō Ngai Tūhoe, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Manawa me Ngāti Pōrou a Ramoana koia hoki te pou whatu mātua me tō rātou pou-karanga. I whakamāhia e rātou te wahakura kirihou hei tūāpapa mō ngā wahakura. I hiahiatia ngā pūkenga pakeke, mōhio hoki ki te whatu kia hāngai ai ki ngā hiahia o te DHB.
Ka nui tonu te whakamomori i te korenga o te kaupapa hapū māmā, koia kē tētehi wānanga tika rawa atu ki te kōrero ā kanohi ki ngā māmā ki te whāngai kōrero atu e kaha ai te oranga o ngā pēpi.
Mā te hokohoko me te tau-utuutu e tika ai te nama mā te wahakura, kia mahara anō te tangata ehara i te mea ka oti te raranga i te wā poto, engari ka hia kē ngā rā e mahi ana. Ko te kato harakeke ā tae noa atu tana mutunga.
Ramoana Te Are. Photo/Rawinia Phillips Smith
Ka ora tēnei rōpū i ngā waiariki o Te Whakarewarewa e tere oti ai i ngā mahi. Me uaua kē ka kite i te harakeke tika inaianei.
Nā reira me hē pā harakeke tāu he mōhio rānei koe ki tētehi pā harakeke e tū nenehawa nei kia kaha te whakamōhio mai ki ēnei ringa raupā. He papatahi te takere o te wahakura hai kauawhiawhi i ngā kōhungahunga tae noa ki tō rātou ekenga ki te iwa mārama, engari rā te pēpi Māori, te pokonati hoki kua puta kē i ngā wahakura i te whā o ngā mārama.
Ka tūarangia ngā pēpi i te wahakura, ā, kātahi ka waihongia atu te wahakura ki te moenga o ngā mātua. Kare kau he māharahara, kāre kau hoki he āwangawanga.
Nā Dr David Tipene-Leach te wahakura i waihangatia ai i te tau e rua mano mā rima me te rua mano mā ono he tākuta ia nō Te Matau-a-Māui he kitenga nōna i ngā tupapaku huhua i tāhuri ai ia ki te rangahau ki te kimi whakaoranga – ko te "cot death", tētehi mate nui e pā nei ki a Niu Tīreni he tata ki te waru tekau ngā pēpi ka riro i tēnei mate āpitihia ki tēnei mate ko te moe tahi a te pēpi me ngā mātua e piki atu ai anō ngā tataunga tupapaku pēpi.
Nō Ngāti Kea, Ngāti Tuara me Tūhourangi-Ngāti Wāhiao a Tessa. He tamāhine nā Brydie, ā, he wahine wāhi ngaru tūātea hoki ia. Kai te whāia rawatia e ia tēnei haerenga hai pūkenga rāranga hei pūkenga whatu nā reira tana noho i ngā rekereke o ēnei mātanga i a Ramoana Te Are me Waitangi Clarke.
Kai te raweke wahakura tana tamaiti a Waikare ināianei i a māua e kōrero tahi nei. E kore e mimiti te mana o te wahakura he ahakoa e tu haere ana te tamaiti ka whai take tonu te wahakura hai moenga mā ngā kame a ngā tamariki rānei he whare tiaki pukapuka.
Hai whakakapinga māku hai te toru o Tīhema te rā whakaharahara e kīa nei ko te National Safe Sleep Day.
Ka whakaaraara wānanga wahakura he rā whakapēhi nei tēnei mate weriweri tēnei mate pēpi ohorere hoki whoi anō he rā whakanui ngā pēpi me ngā whānau.
Kai te kaha tautokongia a Hapai te hauora me Nga Ara o Tāpora te whakarite i ngā kame me ngā rauemi hai taonga mā ngā māmā, ngā tamariki me te hunga hāpai hauora ka tae aroha, kore utu mai i tēnei rā.
Waikare Moke. Whakaahua/Rawinia Phillips Smith
Ka nui te whakamihi atu ki a Nari Faiers rātou ko Fay Selby-Law me ngā taratī o te Whakarewarewa tae rawa atu ki ngā whānau huhua mō kotou i whakapono mai ki te kaha me te tika o tēnei kaupapa.
E kore rawa ngā kupu e pau i te puna aroha.
Weaving wahakura to ensure pepi have a safe place to sleep drives a team of Rotorua craftswomen who have a number of strings to their bow.
Nga Ara O Tapora, comprising Ramoana Te Are, Tessa Marks and Brydie Wharerau-Tukiwaho are working in the Whakarewarewa Village Cafe where they have just completed a successful two-day event.
As well as an exhibition of arts and crafts the event was a chance to encourage more people to take up weaving.
The roopu became a charitable trust last year and offer a variety of wananga teaching weaving of kete, kono and putiputi.
They also offer hapu mama the opportunity to work with them to weave wahakura. At the same time they offer advice and information on safe sleeping practices for pepi.
The hapu mama wananga used to be held at Apumoana Marae. Brydie (Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao, Taranaki, Ngai Tahu, Nga Puhi) is a former Plunket nurse.
The weaving roopu started at the Fordlands Community Centre in 2017 and was funded by the Tindall Foundation until August 2020.
Brydie Wharerau-Tukiwaho holding her mokopuna, Waikare Moke. Photo/Rawinia Phillips Smith
They have moved out of the community centre but will provide wananga if requested. They still provide wahakura for district health boards if requested.
For this latest project they have been commissioned by Auckland-based Hapai Te Hau Ora to provide 35 wahakura and mattresses.
Ramoana (Ngai Tuhoe, Ngati Whakaue, Ngati Manawa, Ngati Porou) is their senior kairaranga.
She said they used the plastic pepi-pod as a template for wahakura. They needed experienced weavers to design and shape a uniform wahakura that met DHB requirements.
The roopu regret that the hapu mama classes have finished because those were an ideal opportunity to spread the word about safe sleeping.
Prices for all their work are negotiable but wahakura do require quite a number of days' work from harvest to finished product.
At Whakarewarewa they can hasten the process by dipping the flax in ngawha.
Finding suitable flax is also not so easy these days.
Wahakura are flat flax baskets designed to cater for pepi from birth to nine months although many large Maori babies outgrow them by six months.
Babies are placed on their backs in the wahakura which can then be put on the parents' bed and pepi are safe from harm but still close enough to awhi.
Wahakura were designed by Hawke's Bay GP and health researcher Dr David Tipene-Leach in 2005-2006 at a time when "cot death" took about 80 babies annually.
Maori mortality from Sudden Unexplained Infant Death syndrome (SUID) was high and not helped by the practice of babies sharing beds with adults. Tessa (Ngati Kea, Ngati Tuara, Tuhourangi-Ngati Wahiao) is Brydie's daughter and on a learning pathway. Her toddler Waikare is playing with a wahakura as we speak.
Wahakura can be handed on when no longer needed but the roopu has found that mama become attached to them and utilise them for toy or book storage.
