Kete (Māori Basket)
The kete is the woven basket of the Maori, plaited from the strips of the harakeke flax plant and used to carry food, tools, feathers and other goods in daily life. Plain kete are made quickly for carrying, while the patterned kete whakairo is woven with a coloured design and given as a mark of respect. In Maori tradition the three kete of knowledge were brought down from the heavens by the god Tane, who returned with the basket of ritual knowledge, the basket of ancestral knowledge and the basket of practical knowledge, and so established learning among humankind. The kete is therefore both a