Skip to main content

Story: Seaweed

Preparing pōhā for transportation

Image
Preparing pōhā for transportation

Each bull kelp pōhā was packed tight with the preserved bodies of muttonbirds and placed into a flax basket. In this photograph, taken on Solomon Island (near the southern tip of Stewart Island) around 1920, Mrs S. Burke places fresh strips of tōtara bark around the bags to protect them when they are transported off the island.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PAColl-6001-58

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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Maggy Wassilieff, Seaweed – Traditional use of seaweeds, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/4602/preparing-poha-for-transportation (accessed 24 June 2026).

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 2 March 2009.