Maori ate those who they killed to consume their strength, using their bodily parts to craft weapons and tools. Maori People's early contact with Europeans Early European contact with the Maori include Abel Tasman in 1642 and Captain James Cook in 1769. This design represents the Toki or Adze ("adz" in American English) which was used to carve the great canoes and also to cut and work timber for the fortresses or Pahs in which the Maori lived. The Maori were master carvers, and the moko was often created by literally carving the skin with a chisel. The art and natural talent for Maori Carving is highly regarded in Maoridom. The Maori believe the tiki represents the unborn human embryo. Those who were killed did not end up simply as a body on the ground. The tiki is a talisman to the Maori people, and has been regarded as a good luck charm from the ancient times. Māori cultivated land and introduced vegetables from Polynesia, including the kūmara (sweet potato) and often cooked h ā ngi (an earth oven) . The Moriori myth and why it’s still with us. The Maori people of New Zealand came from eastern Polynesia in waves of canoes sometime between 1250 and 1300 AD. Many of these tukutuku panels descend from the star charts carried by ancient navigators. The protruded tongue of the Haka dance had a terrifying meaning – it warned an enemy warrior that he could turn into food for his opponent if he died. It was such an important tool in Maori life that it became regarded as a symbol of power, authority and good character. They hunted native birds, including moa, the world’s largest bird, with a range of ingenious traps and snares. Early Maori did not have a written history, so their arts and crafts took on the role of being a record of spiritual values and beliefs, as well as a historical family record. The most valuable tiki’s were carved from greenstone and were handed down through generations and treasured possessions. Tree carving on the Chatham Islands, ca 1900 by an unknown photographer. They wove fishing nets from harakeke (flax), and carved fishhooks from bone and stone. When it came to carving a large project like a Marae or Canoe it was of the utmost importance that a … Europeans described the Maori warriors as large men, although women could be warriors as well, who had extensive facial tattoos. The designs used in Maori artwork on sale here at ShopNZ.com ( necklaces, pendants, wood carvings, tattoo, etc) all carry a spiritual meaning. Carving was done in wood, bone, and stone, and carvings were used to create jewelry and decorate houses, fence poles, containers, and other objects. For more information on Maori carving designs see Maori Carving Designs or to see beautiful hand carved Maori Jewelry for sale go to The Bone Art Place. 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