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Maori Agriculture

Paretai

Paretai

Tuta Nihoniho informed us that among the Ngati-Porou folk of the East Coast a peculiar implement termed a paretai was formerly used in kumara and taro plantations. It was of a peculiar form, made from a piece of hardwood, and was from 12 in. to 18 in. in page 93 Fig. 37. Three Timo, Wooden Grubbing Implements. In Dominion Museum. See p. 92. H. Hamilton, Photo. Fig. 38. Native Woman using a Timo or Grubber. See p. 92. J. MacDonald, Photo. page 94length. The pointed ends were used for the purpose of loosening the soil round the plants, while the convex edge was employed as a scraper in earthing up, as also in arranging the gravel in the shallow pits in which taro were grown.

According to Hakaraia Pahewa, of Te Kaha, the paretai was a carefully fashioned flat implement used in earthing up (whakaeke) the tapuke (syn. puke) of the kumara field. An expression still employed by elderly women of those parts is—Paretaitia mai te oneone kia ngaro ai ta tatau umu. Scrape up the earth, that our oven may be covered. This implement was also used for the purpose of scraping earth to cover the mats placed over the umu or steam oven, hence the above remark. According to information received from natives there seems to have been a shorter form having no elongated ends, as shown in B. The crescent-like form described by Tuta is represented by A. in Fig. 39 (p. 94).

Fig. 39. Two Forms of Paretai, a Wooden Scraper. Used as an agricultural tool, and also by cooks for covering a steam oven with earth. See p. 94. Sketch by Miss E. Richardson

We are indebted to Mr. J. B. Lee of Waitakaro for a description and sketch of the paretai, as obtained from an elderly native of Ngati-Porou. He remarks that he made many enquiries ere he found an old man who remembered having seen the implement in his boyhood. The old native made a rude sketch a la Maori by means of a stick on a bare patch of ground. This tool was used as a scraper in filling baskets with gravel to be used in the cultivations, and in arranging the gravel in taro holes and around kumara plants. It might also be used in any such scraping operations. The paretai was made of a seasoned piece of heart of matai, or other suitable timber. It was about semi-circular in form, some ten inches or so in length, and about eight inches wide, or deep. Its thickness on the upper edge was about 1½ in., from which it tapered down to thin edge at the bottom. The hand grip was sunk, doubtless in order to give the manipulator more power over the implement. It was used as a sort page 95of handleless hoe; held in an upright position and to scrape material towards the user.

The paretai, according to Te Manihera Waititi, was used for covering umu or steam ovens with earth, as also for uncovering them when about to be opened. The different descriptions of the implement vary somewhat, and quite probably such differences existed.