Māori whale ivory and bone tools and weapons

The strength, density, weight, and durability of both whale teeth and bones made it an ideal material for tools and weapons seeing heavy use. In this step we will look at some examples. Many of the implements we’ll look at were typically made of other, more abundant materials; wood, pounamu (greenstone), or other bone. Being such a precious resource for early Māori, these whalebone taonga likely held special significance, or were used by individuals of high status.

Weapons

Whale bone patu (Patu parāora)

^{Wahaika parāoa (short edged weapon), unknown carver, New Zealand. Gift of Mrs Thomas Purvis Russell, 1921. Te Papa (ME003798)}

A fine example of a wahaika, or whalebone patu, a short-handled striking weapon used in close-quarter combat. The principal striking edges of the wahaika is the convex distal tip and the concave point at which the end of the blade curves back towards the hand grip. The hand grip itself is enhanced by the addition of a human figure carved in high relief. Whale bone is a durable, hard and dense material, and highly suited for the manufacturing of striking weapons.

Hoeroa

^{Portrait of a Maori man holding a Hoeroa, by Wilhelm Dittmer; 1905; New Zealand. Te Papa (1992-0035-1239)}

^{Hoeroa (throwing weapon). carver unknown; early 19th century; Northland. Oldman Collection. Gift of the New Zealand Government, 1992. Te Papa (OL000164)}

The hoeroa is an enigmatic weapon usually fashioned from the lower jawbone of a sperm whale and averages between 1.5 and 1.8m in length and 5 to 8cm in width. Hoeroa are prestigious heirlooms, usually the preserve of high-ranking men, and representing their personal mana (chiefly authority). Hoeroa are also weapons, but the technical aspects of their use are uncertain.

According to a letter [E.E. Francis, 1903] associated with the Oldman collection this hoeroa was said to have been gifted to Queen Victoria by a Māori chief when he visited England. It was returned to New Zealand in 1948 as part of the Oldman collection of Māori and Pacific artefacts.

Kotiate

^{Kotiate (short hand club), 19th century, North Island, maker unknown. Henry Hill Collection. Purchased 1905. Te Papa (ME001110)}

This short-handled one-handed thrusting weapon was used for close combat. The kotiate can be recognised by the two deep notches on either side of its broad, flat blade. Usually made from whalebone and less frequently hardwood such as akeake or rautangi. The reke, or butt, is usually carved.

Tools

Hoe (paddle)

^{Hoe (paddle), carver unknown. Gift of Dr Moe and Mrs Jean Kronfeld, 1969. Te Papa (ME011588)}

This is a hoe (paddle) used for propelling waka (canoes). Though usually carved from wood, this hoe is made from whalebone. Generally, paddles were unadorned, but occasionally they were painted with scrolled kōwhaiwhai patterns. Paddles for purely ceremonial uses were usually carved.

Patiti (hatchet)

^{Patiti (hatchet), carver unknown, North Island. Gift of Phil Reaney, 1994. Te Papa (ME015707)}

Māori adapted European axe heads, made for cutting and splitting wood, into pātītī (hatchets) for close combat. Before the introduction of axe heads as trade items, the pātītī had no precedent in Māori weaponry.

Pā kahawai (trolling lure)

^{Pā Kahawai (trolling lure), carver unnown; 1800 / 1900; New Zealand. Purchased 1968. Te Papa (ME011848)}

Pā kahawai are trolling lures designed to attract and hook large surface-feeding fish, such as kahawai (Arripis trutta). Adapted from Polynesian trolling lures, pā kahawai are composite lures typically constructed using a ground and shaped pāua (New Zealand abalone) shell lure set in a wooden shank with a bone barb fixed at the base and bound tightly with muka (flax fibre) cord.

This pā kahawai is unique because it has been made from the finest materials available. The shank is whale bone, and a pāua shell inlay has been carefully selected and fitted to it. The three-point pounamu (New Zealand greenstone) barb is expertly fashioned, and the ends of the hook are tightly bound by three-ply kiekie (Freycinetia baueriana) fibre cord dyed in natural plant extracts.

The care that has gone into the creation of this pā kahawai suggest it was created for a purpose beyond catching fish. Although its exact use and purpose are not known to us today, it would have been a taonga treasured by its owner.

The Māori demigod Māui is credited in tradition with inventing the kāniwha ‘barb’, which, much to the resentment of his older brothers, enabled him to catch many more fish than they could. This ancient story reinforces the importance of this advance in fishing technology to the welfare of Māori.

Crafting and artistic implements

Uhi ta moko (bone tattooing handle with comb)

^{Uhi ta moko (bone tattooing handle with comb). Maker unknown; 1800-1850; New Zealand. Gift of Mason Nelson, 2017. Te Papa (ME024212)}

Ta moko, the art of customary Māori tattoo and scarification is probably one of the most famous of all the customary Māori art forms. It has experienced a resurgence of scholarship, practice, and popularity among Māori and non-Māori wearers alike. It was on the brink of extinction for many years, but is now highly visible on the bodies of wearers from many different communities and is a proud expression of Māori identity.

The Western and Eastern Pacific method of tattooing is based on the use of broad notched combs of varying widths called uhi, dipped in dark pigment, and struck into the skin with small mallets know as tā. The teeth of the comb pierce the skin and deposit the pigment. Māori brought this method of tattooing with them from Eastern Polynesia. This whale bone uhi (tattooing instrument) was used to perforate the skin and insert pigment, and was especially useful for shading moko.

^{Ta moko, by Leslie Hinge; 1906. Te Papa (B.000832)}

Many of the design motifs are universal, especially the spiral elements applied to the nose, cheek and lower jaws; and the curvilinear rays on the forehead and from the nose to the mouth. The remaining elements were carefully chosen to accentuate and enhance the individual features, giving meaning to the expression Mataora, the living face. Moko may also indicate social status, role, and expressions of identity through genealogy, but this remains unclear.

However, taken in its entirety it remains a bold visual expression of personal identity and was applied to early documents, as a mark of both individual and collective identity and authority in much the same was as a signature in European society.

You may lose your most valuable property through misfortune in various ways; you may lose your house, your patu pounamu (greenstone club), your wife, and other treasures – you may be robbed of all your most-prized possessions; but of your moko [customary Māori tattoo] you cannot be deprived except by death; it will be your ornament and your companion until your last day.
– Netana Rakuraku (Whakaari), of Waimana, a chief of Ngai Tama and Ngai Tuhoe

Tā whakairo (carving mallet)

^{Tā whakairo (carving mallet), unknown carver; 19th century; New Zealand. Te Papa (ME012187)}

Whalebone was a prized material for another artistic tool – the tā whakairo, a mallet used alongside a chisel in the traditional art of whakairo, or carving. Wood carving is ubiquitous in Māori society. A whalebone mallet, typically made from the densest bone of a whale – the jawbone – required less force when striking the chisel than one made from other materials.

Objects, buildings, and tools were often carved, frequently with depictions of honoured tūpuna (ancestors). The figure below is one such example, and would have stood atop a bold and elaborately carved kūwaha or entranceway of a pātaka (storehouse). The dominant central figure represents an important tribal tupuna (ancestor), flanked by smaller subsidiary carved humanistic figures. Ornately carved pātaka such as this were outward expressions designed to make bold visual statements symbolising the prestige and wealth of the tribe.

Commissioned by chiefs of status, power and wealth, carved by tohunga whakairo (master carvers), the construction of a pātaka was an activity that drew upon the resources of the entire tribe who had to plant and harvest crops and other foods in advance to support the carvers, often for months. The tohunga whakairo were paid with handsome gifts of fine cloaks and precious greenstone weapons and ornaments.

^{Kuwaha Pataka (carved figure), carver unknown; 1750-1850; North Island. Oldman Collection. Gift of the New Zealand Government, 1992. Te Papa (OL000489)}

In the next step we’ll learn about another thing that was traditionally carved from whale ivory – niho nguru, a nose flute made of a whale’s tooth. Hear from an expert practitioner how much meaning is carried in such taonga (treasures)

Further resources

To learn more about patu paraoa, and one of the personal stories that can be tied to them, listen to the short podcast General Horatio Robley and the patu parāoa on the Te Papa website.

See Perspectives of Māori fishing history and techniques. Ngā āhua me ngā pūrākau me ngā hangarau ika o te Māori on the Te Papa website for more information on traditional Māori approaches to fishing.

If you’d like to know more about tā moko tattooing, visit Tāmoko Māori tattoos: history, practice, and meanings on the Te Papa website.

For more on Māori design and its significance, see the BBC Documentary ”Oceans Apart: Art and the Pacific episode 3 – New Zealand”

For more about elaborate carved pātaka (storehouses), watch this Tales from Te Papa video

There are many more whale ivory taonga in the Te Papa collections, check them out here