Pōhā are traditional bags used by the

Māori people Māori () are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand. Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of Māori migration canoes, c ...

of New Zealand made from southern bull kelp, which are used to carry and store food and fresh water, to propagate live

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

, and to make clothing and equipment for sports. Pōhā are especially associated with

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

, who have legally recognised rights for harvesting source species of kelp.

Construction

Blades from southern bull kelp (rimurapa in

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

) species such as ''

Durvillaea antarctica ''Durvillaea antarctica'', also known as ' and ', is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found on the coasts of Chile, southern New Zealand, and Macquarie Island.Smith, J.M.B. and Bayliss-Smith, T.P. (1998). Kelp-plucking: coastal eros ...

'' and '' D. poha'' (named after the pōhā) were used to construct the bags. The kelp blades have a 'honeycomb' structure,Maggy Wassilieff
Seaweed - Bull kelp’s honeycombed structure
''Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand'', Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Updated 2 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2010. which allows them to be split open, hollowed out (pōhā hau) and inflated into containers. Inflated blades are hung out to dry and then deflated and rolled up for transport.

Tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (), commonly known as the , is a species of Podocarpus, podocarp tree endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island, South Island and rarely on Stewart Island, Stewart Island / Rakiura in lowland, ...

bark can be used to cover and protect the bags.

Uses

Transport

Pōhā are used to transport food, fresh water, to enclose food within an oven, and to transport and propagate live seafood such as

(including toheroa),

sea stars A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

and

pāua Pāua is the Māori name given to four New Zealand species of large edible sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs which belong to the family Haliotidae (in which there is only one genus, ''Haliotis''). It is known in the United States and Aust ...

in a process referred to as whakawhiti kaimoana. Pōhā were often used to carry and store muttonbird (tītī) chicks. Pōhā form an airtight seal and food can be safely stored inside them for up to two or three years.

Clothing and sport

Members of

used inflated pōhā to protect their bodies (like a wetsuit) while foraging for seafood, and stories by

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

indicate that pōhā were used for

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

in a sport called kauai or kaukau.

References

External links

A Seaweed Pantry - Tales from Te Papa episode 100, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (YouTube video)Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, Story: Te Māori i te ohanga – Māori in the economy: Pōhā containersMāoritube Pōhā (Bull Kelp Bags) – Ngāi Tahu Mahinga KaiPōhā - Ngāi Tahu Mahinga Kai (direct link to video on YouTube)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pōhā Polynesian culture Māori culture