Ngatu: Keeping the Tradition Alive PDF

The group is learning about Tongan culture and how to make ngatu, a cloth made from bark. (Ngatu is known as tapa in many...

The group is learning about Tongan culture and how to make ngatu, a cloth made from bark. (Ngatu is known as tapa in many Pacific countries.) The group meets on Saturdays in a school hall N G AT U in Taita, near Wellington. It’s a long way from the Kingdom of Tonga, which is about 2,000 kilometres north of New Zealand. There are grandmothers, mothers, and daughters in the group. Keeping the Tradition Alive Megan and Lita are cousins. They love taking part in the ngatu workshops. They get to spend the day with their grandmother, by Iona McNaughton Uoleva, their mothers, and other women and girls from the Tongan community in Wellington. A group of women and girls are sitting around a long, wooden table. They all speak lea faka-Tonga (the Tongan language), and they laugh a lot. They sing traditional Tongan songs as they put their hands into gooey, white paste and then spread the paste over a sheet of material on the table. 2 3  Ngatu is made from the bark (tutu) of the paper mulberry Growing up in Tonga tree (hiapo). Making ngatu is called koka‘anga. Ngatu is very important in Tonga. It is used for blankets, mats, clothes – and Uoleva and her sister Mele even kites. are the elders (the taukei) of “Our mother started teaching us to make ngatu when we were the group. They sit at each five or six years old. Now we are passing on what we learnt to end of the table and guide our daughters and granddaughters,” says Uoleva. “Megan and the women as they work. Lita were born in New Zealand, so it’s very important they learn Uoleva and Mele our traditional Tongan ways.” remember growing up in Tonga in the 1950s and 1960s. They lived in a village called Tatakamotonga. There were fifteen children in the family – seven girls and eight boys. The boys worked in the fields with their father and went fishing. The girls worked with their mother making ngatu. A treasure in Tonga Mele says that in Tonga, ngatu is a treasure. “When we’re born, we are wrapped in ngatu, and when we die, we are also wrapped Students wearing ngatu as in it. Today it’s used mainly for special occasions such as royal they perfom a meʻetuʻupaki – a traditional Tongan dance  ceremonies, birthdays, weddings, and funerals.” The Tongan community in New Zealand also uses ngatu for special occasions. 4 5  Koka‘anga – making ngatu There are many steps to make the ngatu. 6 and 7 In New Zealand 1 In Tonga 6. In the school hall, the women and 1. After the hiapo is cut down, women girls cover the table with material. and girls peel the bark from the tree. This will be backing for the ngatu. 8a 2 2. They hang the bark in the sun to dry. 7. They line up feta‘aki along the table on top of this backing 3. They soak the dried bark in water to material. Then they paste the make it soft. edges of the feta‘aki to the backing material. 3 4. They beat the bark with a wooden 8b tool called an ike to make it thinner 8. They cover the backing material and wider. with paste. 5. They dry the bark in the sun again. 9. They carefully lay the feta‘aki over 4 9 the top of the backing material. These strips of dry, flat bark are called Then they press the two pieces feta‘aki. The hiapo tree doesn’t grow well together and slowly roll them up. in New Zealand, so feta‘aki isn’t made here – it’s sent to the group from Tonga. 10. They carry the ngatu outside and 5 roll it out on the concrete so it can dry in the sun. When it is dry, they 10 will paint the ngatu with some brown dye, using a piece of feta‘aki as a brush. 7  Over four months, the group has made twenty large Showing the ngatu pieces of ngatu. Each woman Once all the ngatu have been painted, they will be shown in an takes a piece home. At home, exhibition. Everyone from the community can come and admire they plan the design and then the work. paint the ngatu. They might For Lita, her favourite part is painting the ngatu with her use designs of turtles, fish, mother and grandmother. “I like doing art and spending time birds, and animals. They might with my nana and mum. I will be very proud and happy when my include the Tongan flag. Each family sees the exhibition and what we have done.” piece of ngatu tells a story. Megan is excited about taking photos of the ngatu. She will send them to her godmother in Tonga. When her godmother sees the photos, she will know that Megan is learning about Tongan culture and helping to keep alive the tradition of making ngatu. “One day, I want to teach my daughters and granddaughters how to make ngatu – just like my nana has,” Megan says. 8  Tongan vocabulary feta‘aki: the dried pieces of the beaten bark hiapo: the paper mulberry tree (known feta‘aki  as “aute” to Māori) ike: a wooden tool for beating the ngatu koka‘anga: the way of making ngatu lea faka-Tonga: the ike  Tongan language ngatu: the Tongan word for tapa taukei: the older women who are experienced in making ngatu tutu: the bark used to make ngatu tutu  10 11  SCHOOL Ngatu: Keeping the Tradition Alive N G AT U JOU R NA L by Iona McNaughton Keeping the Tradition Alive by Iona McNaughton – JUNE 2018 – A group of women and girls are sitting around a long, wooden table. They all speak lea faka-Tonga (the Tongan language), and they laugh a lot. They sing traditional Tongan songs as they put The Ministry of Education and Lift Education would like to thank: their hands into gooey, white paste and then spread the paste over a sheet of material on the table. the St John Avalon Tongan Congregation, Lower Hutt HCUC Parish Women’s Fellowship “Akomai Ngatu Project” for sharing their knowledge of Tongan culture and ngatu Pomare School, who provide support for the project Kaufo‘ou Taulata for all her help with developing and checking the article. Text copyright © Crown 2018 The images on the following pages are copyright © Crown 2018: 2–4, 5 (top), 6–7 (feta‘aki strip at top), 7, 8 (top), 9, 10 (top and bottom), and 11 by Mark Coote 2 3–8 and 10–11 (ngatu background) by Liz Tui Morris 6 (process illustrations) by Scott Pearson The images on the following pages are used with permission: 5 (bottom) copyright © Margaret Vickers 8 copyright © Kaufo‘ou Taulata SCHOOL JOURNAL LEVEL 2 JUNE 2018 10 (middle) copyright © Oldman Collection, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa For copyright information about how you can use this material, go to: http://www.tki.org.nz/Copyright-in-Schools/Terms-of-use Curriculum learning area English Published 2018 by the Ministry of Education, Technology PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. Social Sciences www.education.govt.nz The Arts: Visual Arts All rights reserved. Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Reading year level Year 4 ISBN 978 1 77669 297 2 (online) Keywords community, culture, design, family, feta‘aki, grandparents, identity, lea faka-Tonga, ngatu, Publishing Services: Lift Education E Tū parents, processes, tapa, Tonga, traditions Editor: David Chadwick Designer: Liz Tui Morris Literacy Consultant: Melanie Winthrop Consulting Editors: Hōne Apanui, Ross Calman, and Emeli Sione