Maori clay artists including Colleen Urlich and Baye Riddell have just returned from sharing skills and stories with the indigenous people of the US state of Washington.
Mrs Urlich says the exchange, backed by Creative New Zealand and Toi Maori Aotearoa, strengthened bonds with the Chinook that have been forged through a shared involvement in waka culture.
She says the 10-day visit started with a welcome at a bay on the coast which is sacred because of its importance in salmon migration, and they were then invited to join the Long Beach Loyalty Day Parade.
"We ended up in a Chinook waka sitting aboard a trailer, all of us, with me holding a paddle flying the tino rangatiratanga flag and they had their flag and they drummed and sang and when they stopped, Baye started playing his guitar and we sang, something totally unexpected," she says.
An exhibition of the artist’s work, Uku-Aotearoa: Spirit of Materials, is on until the end of July at the Clatsop Community College Arts Centre in Washington.
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