Patu Muka


Last weekend, Puke Ariki,
the museum here in New Plymouth,
brought some maori
stone tools out from storage so that
visitors could pick them up,
and generally come to appreciate them more.


Many of them were Patu muka,
from patu which is a word
for clubs of various sorts and
muka which is the word for
flax fibre.


These implements were used 
to pound the flax leaves as a way
of extracting the fibre which was
an invaluable resource, used in many ways.

Personally I found it a rich experience,
so much so in fact that I went twice.