Lanae spends her time along Ōhinemataroa.

In 2019, Lanae and her fellow dirt lovers Sarah Hudson and Jordan Davey-Emms formed Kauae Raro Research Collective. Since then Lanae has been re-learning our ancestors' earth pigment practice.

For the last year and a half Lanae has been experimenting with a variety of staining/dying techniques using whenua. She has catalogued the earth pigments on bandanas. It speaks to identity, reunion, whakapapa and connection to places which have nourished our people for centuries.

He Whenua, He Oneone
Cotton bandana and soil from Matirerau

When my tīpuna on the Mata-atua waka navigated across the ocean, they brought with them the kūmara but also soil from Raꞌiātea.

To ensure the kūmara would survive, they placed this sacred soil in the maara Matirerau. A sacrifice was also made, and thus Taukata’s blood was smeared on the storehouse and his skull brought to the maara every season to protect the crops.

Centuries later, Matirerau still nourishes our people in the tiny settlement of Wairaka in Whakatāne. The whenua from Matirerau represents identity, well-being, service to community and connection to place and our homelands in Hawaiki.

Te toto o te tangata, he kai; te oranga o te tangata, he whenua, he oneone.
While food provides the blood in our veins, our health is drawn from the land and soil

— Lanae Cable, Artist Statement

Toitū Te Moana is on at Tautai Gallery till June 4 2022