Te Takenga Mai o te Koti ua

Raincoat originated in China. During the Zhou Dynasty, people used the herb “ficus pumila” to make raincoats to protect against rain, snow, wind and sun. Such kind of raincoat is usually called “coir raincoat”. The outdated rain gear has completely disappeared in the contemporary countryside, and has become the permanent memory with the development of the times. The memory is indelible, which will appear in a particular occasion to touch your emotions, and you will remember it involuntarily and clearly. The memory gets more precious with years.

I nga taiwhenua o nga tau 1960 me 1970, ko te koti ua he taputapu nui mo te haere ki te mahi paamu mo ia whanau. I nga ra ua, me tiaki te tangata i nga wai o nga papaa, ka wetewete i nga ara wai huri noa i te whare, ka purua nga turuturu ki runga i te tuanui...... Ahakoa te kaha o te ua, ka mau tonu te tangata ki te potae ua, ka mau i te koti ua, ka eke ki te awha. I taua wa, ko te rere o te wai te aronga o te tangata, i te wahangu ka awhina te koti ua ki te aukati i te ua mai i te rangi. Ka kaha ake te ua, ka mama ake ranei, ano he pere koi, a ko te koti ua i rite ki te parepare e aukati ana i nga pere ua kia kore e pupuhi ano. He maha nga haora ka pahemo, ka rukuhia te koti ua o te tuara i te ua, ka tu te tangata mau i te potae ua me te koti ua hei whakapakoko i te mara i te hau me te ua.

Ka huri te ra i muri i te ua, ka whakairihia e te tangata te koti ua kua makuku ki te taha pakitara, kia whiti tonu te ra, tae noa ki te maroke o te koti ua, ka pupuhi te tarutaru, te muka nikau ranei. I te taenga mai o te ua, ka taea e te tangata te kakahu i te koti ua maroke me te mahana kia uru atu ki te hau me te ua.

“Indigo rainhats and green coir raincoats”, in the busy farming season of spring, people wearing rainhats and coir raincoats could be seen everywhere in the fields. The coir raincoat protected farmers from the wind and rain. Year after year, the farmers gained fruitful harvests.

Inaianei, he onge te koti ua, ka whakakapihia e te koti ua mama ake, whai kiko hoki. Tena pea, ka kitea tonu i roto i nga iari paamu i nga waahi maunga tawhiti, i nga whare taonga ranei i nga taone nui, e whakaohooho ana i to maharatanga hohonu me te tuku i a koe ki te whakahoki ano i te hihiko me te ngawari o nga reanga o mua.