Pasta machine makes perfect Tongan heilala necklace

An Italian twist is helping to make the traditional craft of Tongan heilala necklace making more accessible outside of Tonga.

The heilala is a native flower held in highest regard in Tongan culture, used to make traditional necklaces.

Kasanita Katene, 25, became interested in making heilala necklaces shortly after her wedding in 2020.

Katene was raised in Oamaru and lives in Hamilton, but is a proud Tongan from the villages of Leimatu’a, Falaleu, Koloa and Ha’ano.

“My husband’s Māori and on my wedding day, I was wearing a heilala kahoa (necklace) and it was just sitting around at home.

"Then I thought to make him one because he doesn’t have one.”

Making heilala necklaces is an intricate craft as the beautiful, fragile flowers are difficult to work with.

Although the flower doesn’t grow in New Zealand's colder climate, Katene has developed a way to recreate the flower using clay, processed through a staple in Italian kitchens - a pasta machine.

“Before I found this beautiful machine, I was hand-rolling the clay to the point where I believed I had arthritis in my hands”.

After that, Katene uses a heilala cutter and stamps out each individual flower by sticking the cutter on to a rolling pin instead of pressing it down with her fingers.

The most intricate part of the process involves Katene individually moulding each petal by pinching each one upwards to more accurately resemble the traditional heilala flower.

She then puts the tiny flowers on a baking tray, hardening up to 500 flowers at a time.

When the flowers are baked, Katene sews them onto a sheet of felt.

Katene says it’s taken her two years to finally perfect the method of making the perfect necklace.

She credits her mother for her talent for craft, as growing up, her mother would dress her and her siblings up in the finest traditional Tongan accessories that her mother would handmake.

“We were looking like prized horses when it came to fakamē (white Sunday) and all those special occasions.”

Despite being her biggest judge, Katene says her mum is also her biggest supporter, as she’s kept every necklace Katene has made for her.

Katene’s business ‘Heilala Creations’ has been running since 2020 and has a great social media following.

Katene says she receives five to 10 orders a week and has had orders from as far as Abu Dhabi, the United Kingdom and United States.

Most recently, Katene made a kiekie (a traditional Tongan waist ornament) embedded with heilala flowers for Tongan fashion designer Eiko San.

Katene cites a Tongan proverb when it comes to keeping motivated; “papata pē ka na’e lālānga” - meaning it may have been coarse in texture but it was carefully woven.

“It doesn’t matter how paku (burnt) or hipa (crooked) or faikehe (odd) the kahoa (necklace) looks but it was made by you. "So it's special.”

Written by 'Alakihihifo Vailala, Te Rito Journalism Cadet