Image
Blades of bull kelp were used by southern Māori to make pōhā – bags which held preserved muttonbirds. The thick honeycombed blade was opened up by hand, then inflated and dried. In this photograph, taken near Foveaux Strait in 1910, a woman splits open the kelp while a man inflates a blade.
Using this item
Hocken Collections, University of Otago
Reference: Neg. no. E2918/10
Permission of the Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, must be obtained before any re-use of this image. Further information may be obtained from the Library through its website.