16. Kumete - Bowl

This very large kumete or bowl is a shape and size found across the Pacific. This one is from inland Taranaki and came from the Ngāti Hauā iwi. These bowls were typically plain. This one has an abstract face carved on the handle.

This particular bowl may have been used for dyeing fibres but kumete were also used in the preparation or serving of kai or food. They were used to collect fat from preserved birds, for pounding berries, or boiling food. To boil water, stones were heated in a fire – being volcanic they didn’t explode. Then they were placed in the kumete.

Now head towards the end of the canoe, to stop 17, the kākahu or woven cloaks.