Sometimes, the oldest trick in the book is the most effective. Instead of complicated metal tools, Maori weaver Rawinia Gray, 58, demonstrates how to strip a sword-shaped flax leaf of its green using a well-worn muscle shell. Beneath the surface, a soft white fibre is revealed.

Rawinia Gray shows students traditional weaving methods. Photo by: Bruce Barnard.

'It's always interesting to see how it's done,” she says. 'You don't get a good result using a knife – the muscle shell seems to take off the top layer perfectly reveal the fibres.”

For some other tasks, such as scoring the leaf or splitting into strips, 'modern technology” comes into play. 'That's a shearer's comb,” says Rawinia, as she drives the comb through the leaf, splitting it into multiple strips.

Rawinia is one of a few traditional weavers in Tauranga and enjoys passing their knowledge on to future generations, which she will be doing during this year's Matariki Festival.

She hopes to teach even more children – and adults – about the traditional artform she loves.

'For me, Matariki is about the little people making something and giving it away as a gift. It's quite handy if you can show them something – even if it is a flax clapper. Any little child can make that. It's the experience of sharing the knowledge.”

The traditional Maori art of weaving, or raranga, has been passed down to Rawinia through her family, primarily her grandmother and her uncle.

'My grandmother made a lot of mats, and my uncle did lots of baskets, so you could say our family has been doing it for years.

'I have a six-year-old granddaughter and she's already picked it up. She can extract the fibre from the leaf and make a flower out of flax – just little things.

For details on events and workshops this Matariki, visit http://library.tauranga.govt.nz