"POLES APART"

New Zealand Natural Fibres
by Lytton High School Gisborne

flax || goat wool || more flax || wools of nz
fashion clothes of nz || the smokefree fashion awards

Flax In the old days, everyone had three pairs of jandal-like-shoes made out of flax. Flax is the english word for harakeke. The harakeke looks like a big clump of grass, but the leaves of the harakeke are much thicker and wider than grass anyway. The harakeke has a family just like yours. It has tipuna which is grandparents. They grow on the outside, you can tell which ones they are because they are much longer and thicker then the rest. The next ones in are the matua which means parents. There could be two lots of grandparents, then you will see the parents. They are similar to the grandparents but a little smaller. Between the parents, you will find the rito. The rito is the child of the parents and the grandchild of the grandparents. You can create or make many things out of flax. You may be able to make fish if you wanted to, or a hat and a bag, which in maori they called a potae and a kete. Some people think that they have to be really skilled to achieve this, but really, there's nothing to it. Many people would like to learn how to make some things out of flax, I'm sure you would like to learn too. I will tell you some rules about the flax: You must never cut flax when it has just been raining. Always remember to cut the flax on a slant from top to bottom, otherwise the rain will get in to the flax and it will rot. If you cut some flax leaves off and go away somewhere to make something, and you have some flax left over, you must tie the flax up in a bundle and return it to the middle of the flax. Some people say a prayer before they cut the flax, but some people don't. Those were some of the maori rules about the harakeke, there are many more things to be said about the harakeke, and many more things to be said about everything else too, like things about the sea, the do's and dont's about a cemetery, the marae and the wharenui, the maori carvings all over New Zealand and many more. There are also many legends and stories about different parts of NZ too. Well that's enough said for me! By the way I must introduce myself to you, my name is Mere-Tauira Keelan and I am one of the many students at Lytton High School.

KIAORA (HI) OUR NAMES ARE BEVIS AND BUTTHEAD. JUST KIDDING! REALLY WE'RE JUST STUDENTS OF LYTTON HIGH. WE ARE WRITING THIS TO TELL YOU ABOUT OUR GOAT WOOL INDUSTRY. THERE IS A CASHMERE WOOL FARM IN TOLAGA BAY NORTH OF GISBORNE. THE WOOL IS SOLD ALL OVER THE WORLD ... (more next time!)

Hello our names are Taanea, Leigh and Kirby. Science Class Today 23/5/97 We are in 3rd form at Lytton High School. We are all girls. Our class is called 3hr. That is short for Harris (our form teacher). We are a co-ed school. We are writing to you to talk about our science project on fibres. we are concentrating on wools of NZ. New Zealand has one of the largest wool industries. (more next time!)

KIA-ORA (HI) MY NAME IS THOMPSON IHIMAERA SMILER MY PROJECT THAT IM DOING IS ON FASHION CLOTHES THAT WE WEAR IN NEW ZEALAND. TEAR WAYS ARE POPULAR THEY'RE MADE OF TASLON WHICH UN-BUTTON ON THE SIDE THEY'RE THE TREND FOR NOW. WE HAVE A LOT OF WOMENS CLOTHES MADE OF SILK MOSTLY DRESSES AND PANTS. WE HAVE COTTON CLOTHES LIKE JERSEYS, PANTS, T-SHIRTS AND SHORTS. A LOT OF NEW ZEALANDERS HAVE WOOLLEN CLOTHES: LONG SLEEVE JERSEYS AND SHORT SLEEVE JERSEYS ONLY SOUTH ISLANDERS NEED TO WEAR WOOLLEN CLOTHES.

Hi, it's Nicola, Nikki and Rebecca from Lytton high school Gisborne, New Zealand. Our class is doing a Topic on Fibres. We chose to tell you about the New Zealand Smokefree Fashion Awards. So over the next week or so, we will tell about it.