A group of highly skilled weavers plan to have a fleet of Māori sails on the water by 2040 for the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.
They have been attempting to reverse engineer Te Rā, the only known traditional Māori sail in existence.
The sail currently resides in storage at the British Museum in London, where it has been for over 200 years.
“When I saw Te Rā I asked the curator if I could come back when the show came down and take photographs and take pictures of these special pieces and she said yes,” Dr Maureen Lander told Seven Sharp.
Ten years after her trip to London in 1998 she founded Te Rā Ringa Raupā to take up the challenge of recreating the sail here in New Zealand.
“They were such innovative weavers and masters of design,” weaver Ruth Port says.
After a couple trips to London to see Te Ra themselves, the weavers began perfecting the skills and techniques of their ancestors.
After all this time there are still secrets to be revealed.
“We’ve still got one task left to figure out — the edges and how to get a straight line down the edge,” weaver Mandy Sunlight says.
Once this is done the team plan on disseminating the knowledge of Te Rā in the hopes of getting their fleet on the water in 2040.
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