The wreath has been made by the students of Waitati's Te Whanau Arohanui raranga (weaving) class, from laurel leaves and incorporates flowers woven from harakeke (New Zealand flax) leaves, seed pods and berries.
Weaving teacher Roka Cameron said stu-dents had made a similar wreath for the Dunedin dawn parade for about 17 years, as a special acknowledgement of their ancestors who had fought with the Maori Battalion, and to all who had given their lives in battle.
"We do this in respect to them. This is our aroha, or contribution, to those ones who fought for us. I wanted to teach the students this each year, so that when I'm gone they'll carry it on."
Each part of the process of making the wreath was carefully considered, she said.
"I teach them to make the flowers and gather the plants, teaching them about the plants as we go, but most of all we talk [while making the wreath] about those people that served in the war."
