Memorial korowai five years in making
After five years in the making, a wearable memorial for a former Taranaki high school principal has been presented to the school college.
The korowai, or cloak, was made in honour of Diane Kawana, the much-loved former principal and teacher of Sacred Heart Girls’ College (SHGC), who died in 2015.
On Friday, the korowai, made by local weavers Joanne Ngaia and Mako Jones, was handed over by the Kawana family to the college in an hourlong ceremony.
‘‘Today is a very significant day for our college and our community,’’ principal Paula Wells said.
‘‘This has been a community effort of the people, by the people, for the people.’’
Kawana was a language and English teacher at SHGC from 1989 and principal from 2001 to her retirement in 2007.
Following Kawana’s death, colleague and friend Pauline Koorey came up with the idea to have a korowai as a way to honour her.
‘‘It was pretty special,’’ she said of seeing the finished result at school. ‘‘We needed honour her legacy.’’ But she admitted the project was a lot more than she had expected. ‘‘I had no idea what making a korowai entailed or how much time it would take or what work went into it.’’
The korowai is made from muka, the inner fibre of a variety of harekeke (flax).
Six hundred vertical strands (muka whenu), similar in length and about 2cm in width, were required, with 50 aho, or weaving threads, also made of muka. Koorey took a term on sabbatical leave in 2019 to work on the project of narrating the story of the korowai. to
‘‘There’s still a small booklet of that narration to be published that will sit alongside the korowai.’’
Kawana’s youngest daughter, Keri, wore the cloak into the school before placing it on a cross.
It was then placed on the school’s head student Nell Brown who walked it to its new home in the foyer.
Kawana’s eldest daughter, Eve Kawana-Brown, said she was grateful and impressed the school had wanted to share her mother’s legacy and kaupapa.
‘‘It’s hard to put into words,’’ she said when asked how she felt. ‘‘It was a beautiful day for us.’’ The korowai will be kept at the school and be worn on significant occasions by a school leader – student or staff member.