A souvenir made far from home
During the First World War, local makers in Egypt and Palestine produced embroidered textiles for sale to Allied soldiers. Brightly coloured and carefully stitched, these works were popular keepsakes, often personalised and sent home to Aotearoa as tangible reminders of service far from whaanau and whenua.
This textile was commissioned in Cairo in 1915 by Private John Law of Whitikahu. Like many New Zealand soldiers, Law passed through Egypt multiple times for training and medical treatment while serving with the Auckland Infantry Battalion.
Waikato identity stitched in thread
At the centre of this textile is the badge and motto of the 16th Waikato Regiment. The raised arm grasping a taiaha is paired with the words “Ka Whawhai Tonu Ake Ake”, a powerful statement of endurance and resistance.
The phrase draws directly from the words of Ngaati Maniapoto rangatira Rewi Maniapoto at the Battle of Ooraakau in 1864, grounding this First World War object firmly in the longer histories of conflict, courage, and whenua in the Waikato region.
For Waikato soldiers serving overseas, this symbolism asserted identity and belonging at a time of distance and uncertainty.
Private John Law
Private Law departed Wellington for Egypt on 14 December 1914 with the 2nd Reinforcements. In 1915 he served on the Gallipoli Peninsula, where he was repeatedly wounded and returned to Egypt for treatment. It was during one of these periods in Cairo that he commissioned this textile and sent it home.
Law was killed in action on 8 August 1915 at Gallipoli and is buried at Embarkation Pier Cemetery in present day Turkey. This textile is one of the few surviving personal links to his life and service.