Pāraerae. Sandals.
Domestic
Various types of sandal. Common in South Island. Pāraerae hou or kuara are made of a single layer of plaited leaves of flax (harakeke). Te Rangi Hiroa 1924: 357-360 suggests that pāraerae hou are sandals made from fresh leaves, whether of flax or tī
In 1853, a European, Chalmers, and two Māori Reko and Kaikoura went on an exploring trip and walked the whole distance in pāraerae .."made of flax and cabbage-tree leaves, the latter far and away the more durable" (Beattie 1920). See also description of sandal parts in Beattie 1994.
Takitahi are similarly made from leaves of tī. Te Rangi Hiroa gives Takitahi as the North Island name for the check stroke and indicates the technique employed in making the sandal.
Tōrua are made of the leaves of tī, but plaited in a double layer, so as to be very durable. The guide Huruhuru made Shortland a pair of tōrua to protect his feet from matagouri spines on their journey in the Waitaki Plains (Shortland 1851).Tōrua is used in the North to indicate the stroke used (Hiroa 1949:360).
Pārengarenga woven flax leggings. ? (see pāengaenga)
Rohe - sandal and legging combined.
Kopa - a folding sandal.
Pāpari - a combined sandal and legging made of green flax and stuffed or lined with moss. Used when travelling in snow (Best 1899).
Pāengaenga - (pāenaena in Best 1899) a sort of toe-cap, made from muka. Protected toes in walking. Fastened with a cord passed round the ankle.
Tūmatakuru combined legging/sandal made from Aciphylla squarrosa by a netting process. Folded over the foot and above the ankle and laced on , stuffed with rimurimu (moss). (Best 1899)
Te Rangi Hiroa says that sandals not worn in Whanganui, East Coast. "In Taranaki, however, they were worn until fairly recently by old men at Parihaka. ...used to protect the feet from the frost as well as the rough stones of the beaches".
Used in Taupo, Moawhango districts, where they were called pārakereke.
Te Rangi Hiroa discusses the observations of other writers (Best, Shortland) and describes the technique used to make the sandals found in a cave in Upper Taieri. (See Hamilton 1897a). Discusses other names given by Hamilton.
Taupa (leggings) worn by men in warfare in rough country and when passing through tūmatakauru (matagouri) (Beattie 1994).
Notes
Sandals or leggings formed from the plaited leaves of Phormium tenax or Cordyline australis