Canoe Bow Piece

Canoe bow piece. This carved bow piece for a Maori war canoe is of a style that features two large pierced scrolls and, at the front, a human figure with tongue protruding and arms thrown back. Sticking out the tongue was (and is) a Maori gesture of defiance. According to Maori tradition, New Zealand ( Aotearoa ) was settled by a fleet of seagoing canoes. A tribal group might refer to itself as a waka (canoe), meaning that the members of the group were descended from the crew of a particular, named canoe. The Maori war canoe ( waka taua ) was not only a vessel used to transport warriors, but a sacred symbol of the village that built it. The waka taua was also seen as a manifestation of the collective body and spirit of the ancestors and of the power ( mana ) transmitted from them to the community.