In the visual arts DPE, one of our projects has been making a hei tiki. A traditional hei tiki is an image carved in a human form that is worn around the neck. They are carved from pounamu and bone, telling a story of their owner and their forefathers.

In the art room we made ours out of polymer clay, based on the nine matariki stars. We started off with the base colour, each of us choosing what background would fit the traits of the star best. Once we knew what star we were making we started kneading our dough, learning how to warm up our clay so they would become more soft and malleable. Once we had made the shape of our tiki we added vibrant colours to show details.

Each hei tiki had to represent the qualities in their matariki star, for example Waita the star of salt water and oceans would have things like waves or sea creatures carefully incorporated in. The hei tiki had to also have a line of symmetry, along with a place to thread the string through.

Later that week the hei tiki were baked and hardened. Next time we arrived at Pārekareka the class was filled with excitement and chatter as we waited to see our creations come to life. Each figure had been perfectly made, the surface smooth and reflecting the light. We were all pleased to thread and tie the waxed string carefully through the chosen spots on our hei tiki.

During this project we all had learnt a lot about the Maori culture, aspects of the nine matariki stars and some of the different meanings of hei tiki. This was a wonderful learning opportunity, to understand more about the Māori culture. We all appreciate and enjoyed this chance to get actively involved in the hands-on craft of the hei tiki.