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A hei matau is a bone or greenstone carving in the shape of a highly stylised fish hook. They represent good luck and safe travel across water. They represent good luck and safe travel across water. [ 1 ]
Pounamu matau barb Pounamu hei matau pendant, a heavily stylized fishhook The southwest coast of New Zealand is named Te Wai Pounamu ("The greenstone waters"), after its deposits of greenstone, and the area resembles greenstone in this view from space. [1] The term is also the official Māori name for the South Island.
It is a very common form in Maori jewellery (possibly only less common than the hei-tiki and hei matau), and is often found worn as a pendant carved from bone or greenstone. Manaia designs vary subtly in form between iwi, though they are often depicted as three-fingered, with these digits representing the trinity of birth, life, and death. A ...
The mockumentary film Hei Tiki was released in 1935, with a New York Times review describing the plot as being about a "chieftain's daughter who is declared tabu and destined to be the bride of the war god", attributing the title to mean "love charm" (a Hei-tiki pendant interpretation). [5]
Hei-tiki are often considered taonga, especially if they are older and have been passed down throughout multiple generations. Carvings similar to tiki and coming to represent deified ancestors are found in most Polynesian cultures. They often serve to mark the boundaries of sacred or significant sites.
At least two references to him from 1891 appear in Edward Tregear's The Maori-Polynesian comparative dictionary, where he is described as "God, the Supreme Being", [12]: 106 and as a figure in Moriori genealogy, but as Tiki's descendant. [12]: 669 A third reference might be found in the same book under Ngāti Maniapoto's genealogy.
Mātauranga (literally Māori knowledge) is a modern term for the traditional knowledge of the Māori people of New Zealand. [1] [2] Māori traditional knowledge is multi-disciplinary and holistic, and there is considerable overlap between concepts.
The Maori Merchant of Venice (2002) was notable as a complete Māori language translation and performance of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Prominent Māori actors include Temuera Morrison , Cliff Curtis , Jemaine Clement , Lawrence Makoare , Manu Bennett , Keisha Castle-Hughes , James Rollenston , Rena Owen and Julian Dennison .