Maori – Arts Crafts Spiritual Beliefs

Maori stories and legends were handed down both orally and through weavings and carvings.

Their Spiritual and Religious beliefs has a profound effect on their art and the way they used it.

For detailed information on Maori Religion and Spirituality

Te Toi Whakairo is the art of carving, and Tohunga Whakairo were the great carvers – the master craftsmen

A master carver was highly considered. The belief was that the gods created and communicated through the master carvers.

They differed from other Polynesians in that they preferred curves to straight lines in much of their carvings. Many carvings take the distinctive koru spiral form.

The koru. form represents the basis of the red, white and black rafter patterns. This pattern is repeated with their weapons.

The large carved meeting house (whare runanga) was usually named after an important ancestor and, in most parts of the country, was a symbol of that ancestor.

The front of a carved house has at the apex of the gable a large carved head with no part of the body visible.

Wood, bone and Greenstone (jade) carving was both an art and a necessity, providing the tools in which to catch, propagate and prepare food.

With the growing need to protect property and possessions, these skills lead to the design and implementation of Maori weapons for close quarter fighting.

Abundance of timber in the new land allowed for the transition of making small outrigger canoes to large single elaborately decorated ones.

Canoes, storehouses, dwellings, village fortifications, weapons, domestic bowls, and working equipment were basically made of wood.

Weaving of baskets, floor mats, skirts and cloaks used flax of which there are more than fifty different varieties in New Zealand and each had its own advantages of respective use.

Tattoos a traditional Polynesian art, was initially restricted to the face of both men and women of the noble classes, however this has progressed to include any part of the body.

The symbols that represent ancestors and Gods are different from and sacred to the respective tribes and families.

A Maori saying, he iti toki, e, rite ana ki te tangata ( though the adze be small, yet does it equal a man), reflects the pre-eminence of stone adzes and chisels among their tools.

The best evidence of early personal adornment comes from Wairau Bar, these included necklaces of large bone and ivory beads with a central pendant of whale tooth.

The most distinctive ornaments were breast and ear pendants of pounamu, such as the hei tiki, a squat, stylised human figure. Bone, stone and pearl shell are also used for weapons and jewellery.

Other objects of crafts used were bone and wooden needles for clothing, weaving and nets. Combs attained religious significance with intricate carvings.

The belief in the sacredness of these objects prevented them from being shared and they were usually thrown into swamps to protect the owners and to stop marauding tribes from obtaining them.

The Maori also have a lively history of music and dance. Traditional dances such as the Poi dance, the haka, or war dance and the complex Tititorea (stick games) are performed.

The Maori have some unique musical instruments, including the putangitangi, or whistling bowl. This is a small, enclosed clay bowl with a small hole at the top. Whistling close to the top hole produces a mournful echo.

The puritorito or spinning wheel is a wooden disk with string threaded through the center. The disk is spun in the center, and then the strings are pulled tight to create a sound like wind blowing through the reeds. The sound waves from this instrument were often used to loosen phlegm in babies.

The koauau or short flute is a hollow flute carved from a flax stem. The end was covered by a finger, and then the musician would whistle into the opening, creating a variety of tones.

Fibre art was done by both men and women, the women responsible for the elaborate cloaks and utilitarian objects and the men for for canoe sails, hunting and fishing.

Complex plaiting techniques were used and in the more revered items feathers were woven into the design. The main fibre used came from the New Zealand flax plant.