Kapiolani Nee
Winward Community College
Copyright 2013
The Significance of Feathers Worn by Maori Peoples
Like precious gems plucked from
the royal crown, the huia feathers were given as tokens of friendship
and respect. In a culture
without money, tribes occupying the huia country of the North Island sent
the feathers as gifts, or traded them with other tribes for pounamu (greenstone),
shark’s teeth and other valuables.3 In traditional Maori
thought, many birds were seen as chiefly and tapu.
The legend of the female
huia is that some time after the great canoe migration to Aotearoa, there was a
high ranking chief who was in the habit of going up into the mountains to set
snares for birds. One day when he
went to gather in his catch he was surprised to see a strange bird held in one
of his snares. Of course, the
stranger was the huia bird.7
The chief was full of
admiration for the beautiful bird he had captured and he plucked two feathers
from its tail and wore them in his hair. Perhaps this was the first occasion the huia feathers were
worn as a head decoration.
Before liberating the huia, the
chief bestowed upon it a magic spell and mana with the command that the bird
was to appear before him when it was wanted. Now it happened that on one occasion when the chief requested
the bird to appear, it was nesting time for the huia and its tail feathers were
ruffled and in a bad state. The
chief was very angry and asked the bird why its tail feathers were in such a
bad condition. The bird told him
that it was through sitting on its nest.7
The chief then said: “I
will provide you with a means that will enable you to keep your tail feathers
in good order when I next call on you.” He took hold of the huia, which was a female, and bent its
beak into a circular shape. He
then commanded the huia that every time it sat on its nest, it was to pick up
its tail feathers with its circular beak and lift them clear of the nest. This is the legend of the huia bird.7
The huia birds were considered to
be taonga (treasures) by the Maori people.4 Maori of high rank or status
traditionally wore the huia feathers as a hair decoration.4 Chiefs
wore the kahu huruhuru (feather cloak), made from the feathers of the most
beautiful birds.5 The marereko (ancient war-plume) was made
up of twelve huia feathers. These feathers were considered
tapu because it made contact with the head of such tapu individuals.3 This was used by the high
chief as identification, and were worn only at special ceremonies or when going
to battle.1 The highly
valued pohoi was an ornament
made from the skin of the huia: the bird was skinned with the beak, skull and
wattles attached and the legs and wings removed, carefully dried, and the
resulting ornament worn from the neck or ears.4
Huia feathers signified more
than rank. Feathers were
also worn at tangi (funeral ceremonies), and were used to decorate the
heads of the deceased. The mourning caps (potae taua) covered with huia
feathers were worn by widows.7
The skins were dried
and worn from the ears, and in some cases a special flax headpiece was ornamented
with huia heads, the beaks hanging down all around and coming into contact
make a rattling sound as the wearer moves about.3 No one but women of high rank would wear
the potae huia.3 Other birds,
such as the kotuku (white heron) and amokura (red-tailed tropic bird)
were also prized for their plumes, but huia was pre-eminent.5
An amazing discovery of huia
feathers was made in 1892 near the Clutha River in
Central Otago. The discovery revealed
70 tail feathers and 20 bunches of scarlet kakakura (red kaka)
feathers, stored in a wakahuia (treasure or feather box), an intricately
carved wooden box traditionally designed and made by the chiefs son as a
sign of accomplishment.1,8 A wakahuia were known to
contain items that were symbols of rank or authority worn by the chief. Treasures such as huia feather plumes,
pendants made from pounamu (greenstone), heru (combs), tiki (figure-shaped
ornaments) and other pendants where stored in the wakahuia.8 The boxes and their contents were often given
names, and were passed down through families.8 Being
so highly valued and tapu (sacred) the wakahuia and the fact that their
contents came in contact with the most tapu part of a person, the head, meant
that they were hung from the rafters of the owner’s whare (house) to remove any
chance of disrespect.8
The huia bird was found throughout the North Island before
European contact. The Maori
arrived around 800 years ago, and by the arrival of European settlers in the
1840s, habitat destruction and hunting had reduced the bird’s range to the
southern North Island.6
However, hunting the huia were limited by traditional protocols. The hunting season was from May to July
when the bird’s plumage was in prime condition, while a rahui (hunting ban) was
enforced in spring and summer.6 It wasn’t until European settlement that the huia’s numbers
began to decline severely. The huia and their feathers were
symbols of prestige not only for Maori, but also Pakeha (European New
Zealanders). Their tail feathers
were highly prized, their beaks became a fashionable form of adornment, and
stuffed huia were eagerly sought as domestic ornaments. The compelling need by Europeans
to possess the huia feather and widespread deforestation led to their decline
and eventual extinction.
I was debating on what to do my
research paper on, going back and forth between topics. I was driving myself crazy! Then I remembered that you had
mentioned in class that it would be a good topic to write about the
significance of the feathers worn by Maori peoples. So, I finally decided that that was going to be my
topic. It turned out to be quite
an interesting, sometimes stressful but very informative adventure. I lost my working draft due to a power
outage over the spring break, which made my spring break! Luckily I wrote down some of the
websites I used, so it was not too difficult to find the information that I
needed. All the information that I
found reinforced what I know to be the connections between all
Polynesians. How Polynesians
respected each other and the environment and the Kuleana that we all have to
Malama one another and our aina.
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The tapu Huia feathers worn by high ranking Maori.
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| The waka huia. |
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Oil painting by Gottfried Lindauer of a Maori chief with 7 huia
feathers in his hair.
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Koroua
Hori Ngatai, with a kahu huru huru (feather cloak), and a taiaha. Unidentified
photographer circa 1910.
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This 1848
lithograph by John Gould shows a pair of a huia – a male (top) and female. The
huia’s tail feathers were highly prized and worn by people of rank.
Works Cited
(1)
"Ethno-ornithology:." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar.
2013.
(2)
"Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand [Paperback]." Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand:
B.D. Heather. Web. 16 Mar. 2013
(3)
"Huia, the Sacred Bird." New Zealand Geographic. N.p., n.d.
Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
(4) "Huia." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.
(5) "Maori of New Zealand." Maori
Social Structure. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
(6)
"Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand." 1. Symbols of Status – NgÄ Manu – Birds –.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2013.
(7)
"THE MAORI MAGAZINE [electronic Resource]." THE MAORI MAGAZINE [electronic Resource].
N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013.
(8) "The Maori Race." Google
Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
(9) "Wakahuia (treasure Container), C1700s." - Rita Angus: Life and Vision. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
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