Matariki Kites Contemporary "Manu Tukutuku"

Fun Workshop to Celebrate Matariki with Whanau/Family/Friends~Contemporary Kites - "Manu Tukutuku"

A fun 1 hour workshop using colourful paper and tukutuku stitching to create a manu tukutuku (kite).

Saturday 21st June 2025, 10am to 11am

Skills needed: Must be able to use scissors and tie knots - hand strength and flexible fingers required!
Places are limited - register early to avoid missing out!

Manu tukutuku – Māori kites
The Māori kite is known as manu tukutuku or manu aute. Manu means both kite and bird, and the word tukutuku refers to the winding out of the line as the kite ascends. Kites were also known as pākau, a name for the wing of a bird.

Kites were flown for recreation, but they also had other purposes. They were used for divination – to gauge whether an attack on an enemy stronghold would be successful, or to locate wrongdoers. They were also a means of communication. Sometimes people would release a kite and follow it, claiming and occupying the place where it landed.

Kites were flown to celebrate the start of the Māori New Year, when Matariki (the Pleiades) appeared in the mid-winter night sky.

Bob Maysmor, 'Kites and manu tukutuku', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/kites-and-manu-tukutuku/print (accessed 14 May 2025)