Wild Patch Y36/S2 - Raranga Harakeke

[William Kaimarama]

When it came to events he could run as co-leader of the Wild Patch, William had found himself unexpectedly stumped. The vast majority of his plant-related knowledge related to bushcraft, and he didn't know how pleased his professors would be if he decided to drag a big group of his classmates off into the Forbidden Forest. He was almost embarrassed at the amount of thinking it had taken him to come up with today's activity, but now that he had finally figured it out, William was actually excited for the opportunity. He had gathered the harakeke himself, wanting to make sure proper tikanga was followed in the process. With flax leaves piled high on the mat he had spread out across the grass, William kept mostly to himself, sorting through the patterns he had brought with him as he waited for the club to assemble.

Once the club members had arrived, William was tasked with the uncomfortable obligation to speak to his classmates, something he had never been great at. Even with the confidence he had been feeling since his hike, it was difficult to fully pull himself together. "Alright, uh, kia ora, I reckon we'll get started. My name's William, if anyone forgot it, this is Elliot, and today we're gonna be doing some raranga. If any of youse went to primary school in New Zealand you'll probably already know the basics, but we're gonna go through it for anyone who didn't. First of all, I wanna talk a little bit about the tikanga around harakeke. I've already done all this for you today, but if you ever wanna do weaving on your own time, you need to know how to follow tikanga. The first thing to do before harvesting is thank the harakeke with a karakia. I'll teach you all the one my parents taught me." He turned and wrote with his wand, the words hovering in the sky as he turned back to the group, gesturing for them to repeat the karakia with him. "So, all together. Te harakeke, te korari ngā Taonga whakarere iho O te rangi, O te whenua, O ngā tupuna homai he oranga mō mātou, tihei mauri ora. Translated, it basically says, "Flax, the treasure passed down to us by the sky, the land, the ancestors, give us health, for our life force." So, we're thanking the flax for... helping us out, basically, and honouring its status. When you harvest harakeke you want to make sure you only cut the outer leaves, leave the inner ones intact to grow bigger, and cut at a diagonal close to the base." He held up a leaf so people could see the angle of the cut. "It's forbidden to harvest it during rain, in the dark, or when it's... you know. your time of the month." He blushed a little, hoping to move on from that rule quickly.

"Tikanga is important when we're working with harakeke, because it's a taonga of the whenua, and we need to treat it with respect. But now that the flax is harvested, we can start weaving it. The nice thing about harakeke is that it dries rather than rotting and stays strong, so anything woven out of harakeke will last a long time. I brought this pikau I made years ago to show you." William held up the backpack he had made as a kid, to show the club members how the flax would change in colour and texture with time. "So anything you make today you can keep... pretty much for the rest of your life. I've got a few patterns ranging from easy to hard, so... take one and do your thing, and if you need any help, let me know." William gestured to the piles of parchment containing instructions for a few relatively beginner-friendly projects he had compiled. It was a relief to be finished and he sat back down and picked up a piece of harakeke, working on one of the easier patterns while he waited to see if anyone needed help, quietly thinking that might have been the most he had ever spoken to a group of people in his life.

That was a lot of talking, I hope it was okay to follow! I've included a glossary below, and if anyone has any questions about any of the te reo Māori in this post feel free to PM me. As William said, raranga is commonly taught in all New Zealand primary schools, so if your character went to school in NZ, they'll probably know a lot of this already, and have at least the basics of how to weave down. All of the te reo Māori used in William's post is common knowledge in NZ (again commonly taught in all schools and used in everyday speech) with the exception of the karakia, which William helpfully translated. Below are a few links to different patterns for things your characters could be weaving, listed from easiest to hardest. Any questions, feel free to PM me! Have fun!

Ika (fish), Putiputi (rose), Whetū (star), Kono (basket), Pīwakawaka (fantail - native bird)

Spoiler: Glossary

Raranga - Weaving
Harakeke - New Zealand Flax
Tikanga - Tradition/Custom/Protocol/Etiquette
Kia ora - Hello
Karakia - Prayer
Taonga - There's no direct translation for the word taonga, the closest way to approximate it in English would roughly be, a treasure with spiritual and cultural significance.
Whenua - Land
Pikau - Backpack

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had been happy to let William take the lead on this semester's club event. It was kind of nice to see that William could be properly invested in things, even if he showed it a little differently than some other people might, but it was clear he'd put a lot of time and thought into their activity today. Elliot had kept mostly quiet during William's introduction, being Pākehā* he figured it was best to let William explain things today and just offer his support as needed. He especially appreciated how the tikanga emphasized a respect and reverence for nature, something he felt was an important tenant of the Wild Patch, and he hoped the rest of the club would appreciate it too.

Once William was done explaining, Elliot took a look at some of the patterns. He hadn't done any weaving before, not having ever gone to school in NZ, but he'd done some crafting with flower crowns which he'd hope would help. Deciding to take a stab at things, Elliot began work on a putiputi pattern, wondering if it would be dorky to give it to Alice when he was done.

*Pākehā refers to a White New Zealander not of Maori descent

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had not been the best at the beehive making event, and so he was somewhat unsure about crafting something else for the Wild Patches next event. He'd been quite proud of the shoddy fairy house he'd crafted out of paddle pop sticks for the garden, but in general, he didn't think he was the best at making stuff. He sat cross-legged on the grass and leaned back on his hands to listen to the King of Trees talk. He'd not gone to primary school, his dads hadn't been comfortable sending him off after some minor incidents at a muggle daycare, but he was somewhat familiar with raranga. He'd made small, simple things in the past, but it had been years since. The boy followed along with reciting the karakia, and his eyes widened at the mention of the times it was forbidden to harvest harakeke. He didn't know werewolves weren't allowed to do it under a full moon. It made sense, since it was forbidden to do it at night, and that's when they turned. Thinking about it further, it seemed weird to mention.

Jumping to his feet, Sander looked over the variety of instructions, hoping to be able to weave something cool, like a new sword. A harakeke sword would have been perfect for the Wild Patch. He frowned, not finding anything so cool. The rose was nice, and he wished they'd learned that sooner. Sending flax roses that he'd hand made to his friends, instead of the usual yellow ones, would have been way more fun. Not wanting to do something too simple, he opted for a basket, since it would be useful, and sat down on the grass to start following the instructions.​

 

[Jenna Jusantrea -Maxwell]

Jenna walked here the wild puch club. She liked be here and take of care of Hogwarts Garden, flowers and plants and what ever need to do there. She was happy here at Hogwarts and she alredy get some choclet frog cards new and when she was her she eat some green lolipops her and waited what need to do.

 

[Aubrey Miller]

Wild Patch was a... mixed emotion for Aubrey. She wanted to be part of the club, she did. She loved the activities and she loved the group. She just... felt completely invisible. She made sure she looked her best before walking down to the meeting, listening attentively to the instructions. She hadn't heard any of this before, her family from England, (Nottingham specifically), but she was always curious to know more. Once they were released to try and weave on their own, she gathered some supplies and curled up against a tree, setting to work on one of the harder designs. Mostly just because she wanted to send a basket to Thaddeus. After about ten minutes of struggling on her own, Aubrey bit her lip and glanced up. She waved a little, hoping to get the attention of someone that could help her.

@Elliot Briar @William Kaimarama

 

[William Kaimarama]

William had picked an easy project so he could get up and help people easily if he needed to, a need that came quicker than he had expected. He set down his half-finished fish and moved over to the young girl who had waved, smiling. "Everything okay?" He asked, glancing down at what looked like the beginning of a basket. "Do you need some help?"
@Aubrey Miller

 

[Nell Night]

Nell always looked forward to Wild Patch events, and this semester was no exception. She had been intrigued as soon as she saw the piles of flax lying around as she approached, and as the meeting began, William quickly confirmed her theories about what they were doing today. Nell had always enjoyed weaving in primary school, and she was excited to see if she still remembered how to do it. She repeated the karakia with the rest of the group, a little embarrassed as she hadn't spoken te reo since primary school, and she could tell her pronunciation was rusty. Once it was time to get going Nell looked through the patterns, eventually deciding to attempt the hardest one. She picked up a couple of harakeke leaves and began stripping them down to work on her little pīwakawaka.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor was having a much better time at school than he had had in the first semester, and he was looking forward to spending some time with his clubmates in the Wild Patch. Joining the group, he listened as the older one of their leaders spoke. Connor felt like he was following the information okay, but he hadn't spent all that much time in New Zealand outside school, and he found all the te reo Māori a little difficult to follow. He did his best to repeat the karakia with the rest of the group, cringing at how obvious his Australian accent sounded to him. It was a bit of a relief when the time came to get into the weaving, and Connor decided a flower sounded like the best place to start simple. Glancing around, he scooted over to Lysander after a moment, figuring that if he needed help it would be wise to be near someone from New Zealand. "Do you know how to do this?" He whispered to Lysander, glancing down at his classmate's basket in progress curiously.
@Lysander Summers

 

[Aubrey Miller]

Aubrey bit her lip as one of the boys approached her, William, and blushed as she looked back down at her leaves. He was really cute. She ignored the thought. "I, um, don't think I'm doing this right," She managed, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. She showed him how she was folding it, and sighing when it came loose again. "It doesn't seem to want to stay," She murmured, glancing up at him.

@William Kaimarama

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander had taken up quite a bit of space around with him, between his instructions and strips of flax. As Connor joined him, he shuffled it all together to give the other boy some room, resuming his weaving under and over, under and over to form a grid. It was different to the weaving he had been used to. "Sorta. I haven't made a kono before. There's so many strips." He responded, already feeling overwhelmed by his choice. It wasn't like the simpler things he'd created. A fish he could do, or a heart, though he wasn't sure he'd remember how to do it all solely from memory. "Have you? Yours is sort of like origami." He continued, leaning over to glance at the instructions Connor had chosen. He wasn't the best at origami either, but they had some similarities, and it was the best way he could think of to describe it. Not his, though. His was a lot more complicated. "I can help you out if you want." He offered. He'd wanted to see how easy they'd be to make anyway, and whether he'd have time to decorate his kono with one later. Assuming he managed to complete it in the first place.​

@Connor Holland

 

[Rosemarie Chatwin]

Crafting wasn't something Rose enjoyed, she liked getting dirty and have her hands stuck in some nice damp soil. She knew Ana loved crafting and usually watched her paint some of her pots or a bag. The things she could make were amazing, but it wasn't something Rose would like to do. She arrived at the wild patch and she listened to the two leaders. Last event hadn't been something she liked and she hoped this one would suit her needs more. She didn't have to join the events if she didn't want to to and she was here to make friends and meet new people anyway.

She was glad she already met one of the captains once, that made events like these less scary. Today's event was weaving and Rose didn't see the use of cutting up flax and then making shapes out of them. Why not let the plant stay whole rather than cut it up for some decoration. Rose shrugged she didn't want to weave anything, but she also didn't want to leave. She made a commitment to this club and thus she was staying. She knew how to make a star, she had learned that at school, but she also know it wasn't something she had enjoyed back then.

She decided to go to the actual wild patch and enjoy the flowers there. She had brought her own pot of daisies and she just sat in the grass smelling the flowers, pulling out some weed every once and a while. She did look at other people actually weaving and enjoyed a nice day at Hogwarts.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Looking up from his weaving to check on the club, Elliot spotted Rosemarie leaving the event, frowning when she didn't seem to want to take part. He was pretty sure she'd avoided their last event too and Elliot decided he'd try to go talk to her later after he'd made sure everyone else was doing okay with the activity. The idea of talking to someone, even a younger student, about something like this was a little daunting, but he knew he should check on her in case there was something wrong.

 

[Blue Hoshino]

The last Wild Patch meeting had been one of Blue's favourite experiences at Hogwarts so far, and she was vibrating with energy as she joined the rest of the club. She did her best to follow along with the karakia. Blue had hoped that she'd be exposed to more of te reo Māori while she lived in New Zealand, and was ecstatic to learn more about the culture as well. She didn't understand everything William was explaining, but considered it was probably because she wasn't familiar with New Zealand customs. She wondered if the library had books on the subject, or maybe she could even ask William more about the culture once the event was over. Blue had to quickly reel back in her attention as everyone started moving to start their own projects. She'd done weaving before, but the plant materials had been different and Blue was curious how the flax would compare. Blue looked over the patterns and chose the pīwakawaka, thinking it might be nice to give Gregory a little bird friend to hang out with when she was in classes. She sat down and began following the instructions, humming softly and swaying from side to side as she set her own rhythm to start her weaving.