Making An Ukutangi

 This term my class and I made Ukutangi, this is an explanation about how to make one.  I think I did alright, something I could work on is getting a better hook and using a variety of sentence structures in my writing. In my writing, I am learning how to use De;de sentences. Hope you enjoy.

Making An Ukutangi

Introduction

Do you know how to make a Ukutangi? Ukutangi translates to ‘clay flute’; Maori people used to, and

still do, use these Taonga to connect with God. They are also used to create a calm space, sending messages, and just to create music in general.

Ukutangi are really cool and easy to make. My class and I created some and I wish to show you how to create one too.

Moulding

To start off, we needed to split a piece of clay roughly into two pieces. Once we did this we rolled

the two pieces into spheres. When we were happy with the shape of our clay we then imprinted our thumbs into the top of

our clay, we applied pressure and used our index finger and middle fingers to rotate it around our thumbs, making sure the

rim of our Ukutangi was at least one-two centimeters thick. Eventually, our Ukutangi were beginning to take shape.

Taking Shape

At that point, we had our two pieces of clay that looked like bird nests. We then used a toothpick to scratch lines all

around the rims of each piece, we did this to help the two pieces grip to each other better. After we scratched the lines

into the rim we carefully joined the two pieces together. Next, we used our index fingers to smudge the lines where the two pieces

had joined, this helped the Ukutangi stay together and to make it look nice. Once our clay was in one piece using our pinky fingers, we drilled a

hole through the top until we could feel the empty space. Then, we used our index finger to make the hole bigger. It is very important to keep the top of your Ukutangi flat otherwise it won't work.

Final Test & Decoration

Once we did all the steps listed above we were ready for the final test. That test was to see if our Ukutangi made a noise before it was dry. To do this we put our mouth on it, turned our heads, and blew half our breath in and half our breath out. If it did then our ukutangi were ready, if it didn't you probably have to reshape it. When our Ukutangi passed the test we decorated it.

For my class we did Maori designs, first, we did it in pencil then used a safety pin to carve it in. 

Conclusion 

    All in all, Ukutangi are really cool, sure they’re hard to make but the beautiful sound and look in the end is very rewarding. I really enjoyed making these instruments and love the sound it makes and hope you do too.