The Maori of New Zealand, which they call Aotearoa, were a militaristic, village-dwelling group with chiefs governing the socially stratified communities. Territorial boundaries led to intertribal conflicts, and most groups were semi-nomadic. War canoes were launched from fortified coastal villages, and held 40-80 warriors. These were protected by symbolic carvings on the prow and stern, which included protective ancestor figures and small birds with curved beaks called manaia, which may represent the backbone of the sky-father, Rangi. Both of these images were symbolic of life and death. The figure at the prow may represent Tumateuenga, the god of war. The intricate patterns carved had both symbolic and decorative functions. The canoes were seen as metaphors for the ancestors and the cosmos.
David Henry, image from An historical account of all the voyages round the world : performed by English navigators ; including those lately undertaken by order of His present Majesty ; the whole faithfully extracted from the journals of the voyagers ; Drake, undertaken in 1577-80 ; Cavendish, 1586-88 ; Cowley, 1683-86 ; Dampier, 1689-96 ; Cooke, 1708-11 ; Rogers, 1708-11 ; Clipperton and Shelvocke, 1719-22 ; Anson, undertaken in 1740-44 ; Byron, 1764-66 ; Wallis, 1766-68 ; Carteret, 1766-69 ; and Cook, 1768-71 ; together with that of Sydney Parkinson … and the voyage of Mons. Bougainville … to which is added, an appendix ; containing the journal of a voyage to the North pole, by the Hon. Commodore Phipps, and Captain Lutwidge, 1773 and Maori, prow of a war canoe, n.d. (photo by https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/An_historical_account_of_all_the_voyages_round_the_world_-_performed_by_English_navigators%3B_including_those_lately_undertaken_by_order_of_His_present_Majesty%3B_the_whole_faithfully_extracted_from_the_%2814758964636%29.jpg and By Szilas – Self-photographed, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49333715)
Maori, Canoe prow, c. 1860 and war canoe post, c. 1890 (photo By Image: http://collections.lacma.org/sites/default/files/remote_images/piction/ma-31343973-O3.jpgGallery: http://collections.lacma.org/node/215725, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27332262 and By Daderot – I took this photograph., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15690114)
Maori, Whakapakoko rakau, n.d. (photo http://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/APICollection/media/248096/640)
Koru designs, or curved lines turning in on themselves becoming circles, were key elements in Maori art, from tattooing to painting and sculpture. These designs may be based on a growing fern frond, and the element pf growth and life seem to be important to the koru. The whakapakoko rākau or god stick had a pointed end so it could be stuck into the ground. It was used as a temporary shrine for an auta (deity) by tohunga ahurewa (priestly experts). Tohunga were often responsible for healing people, and sometimes used god sticks to concentrate the power of a particular deity. Even functional objects were decorated with images of deities and ancestors.
Maori, Waka hula, 19th century and Hei tiki, n.d. (photo By Daderot – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37182037 and By Szilas (Self-photographed) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)
Maori, Pataka (photo By daryl_mitchell from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada – Maori Buildings, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49439293)
Important objects, foods, and other valuables had to be stored in specific ways. Treasure boxes, called papahou or Waka huia, were used for storing valuables. They were hung from the rafters of the house, and were elaborately carved on their undersides. One of the objects stored in them were the Hei tiki, greenstone ornaments that represent ancestors. They were heirlooms that reflected the transmission of authority and sanctity to descendants. Storehouses, called pataka, were used to protect precious foods, seed tubers and treasured objects. Pataka were elaborately ca