Culture

Stitched with Love

Enjoy this lovely video posted by Te Papa Museum!

“It’s my grandma, she presented me with a tivaevae and said, ‘You remember this. I sew it with my hands and all the stitches that I have done, there’s thousands of them, that’s how much I love you. I stitch it with that love.’ Isn’t that beautiful?”

Melodie is the director and producer of Spirit of Tivaevae. Born in New Zealand to a Cook Islander father and American mother, Melodie was raised in the United States. Her family background gives her a unique perspective on being a Pacific Islander raised outside the culture.