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Story: Te Māori i te ohanga – Māori in the economy

Flax work

Image
Flax work

A Māori group prepare flax in Taranaki in the mid-1860s. While Māori had traditionally worked flax, they began to process it on an industrial scale for export.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0169-1865-001

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Te Māori i te ohanga – Māori in the economy – Early trade with Pākehā, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/25765/flax-work (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 12 April 2010.