What are Maori weapons called?

What are Maori weapons called?

A taiaha (Māori pronunciation: [ˈtaiaha]) is a traditional weapon of the Māori of New Zealand; a close-quarters staff weapon made from either wood or whalebone, and used for short, sharp strikes or stabbing thrusts with efficient footwork on the part of the wielder.

What methods were used to make Maori?

With a large wooden hammer Maori ‘miners’ would hit smaller fragments of jade from the larger mass down pre-cut grooves. To make sure the fragments broke from the larger mass in the desired direction, large grooves were cut into the jade by rubbing sections with an abrasive quartz rich mica schist.

What is the deadliest weapon in the Māori Armoury?

Mere Pounamu Skilled Maori warriors would give horizontal thrusts to the temple, or target the ribs with an upward thrust. The mere pounamu was the most revered of all the Maori weapons, and some were even buried with the owner.

Did the Māori have guns?

Māori began acquiring European muskets in the early 19th century from Sydney-based flax and timber merchants. Although they had some muskets, Ngāpuhi warriors struggled to load and reload them and were defeated by an enemy armed only with traditional weapons—the clubs and blades known as patu and taiaha.

Who wore Māori Jewellery?

Maori necklace designs as a sign of status Traditionally, pounamu carvings were worn by tribal chiefs, and were exchanged after conflicts so were connected to the process of making peace between tribes. Because of this link, pounamu is considered to have mana (status) and to be tapu (sacred).

Why do Māori carve?

Spiritual Significance In Maori history, carving itself was also a spiritual act surrounded in tapu. The wood chips carved and the tools used were all considered tapu, and thus were put in high regard. Same also goes for the carvers who would craft their intricate designs into wood, stone and the sacred, pounamu.

How do Chinese carve jade?

Excavated from mountains and picked up in riverbeds – and so known as ‘the essence of heaven and earth’, the stones could not be cut by a metal knife, and so they were shaped using a cord and sand acting as an abrasive before being more precisely carved using a drill and then polished.

How jade is carved?

Jade can be cut to shape, manually, using diamond wire handsaw blades. Jade can be cut, mechanically, by using diamond cutting wheels or slitting discs attached to a rotary tool.

What is a Māori axe called?

A tewhatewha is a long-handled Māori club weapon shaped like an axe. Designed to be held in two hands, the weapon comes to a mata (point) at one end and a rapa (broad, quarter-round head) at the other.

How do Māori people make weapons?

To Māori, weapons were taonga (treasures), and were often handed down to descendants. Weapons were made of wood, stone and bone, in a slow, painstaking process. Karakia (incantations) were sometimes said over weapons to imbue them with deities and make them tapu (sacred).

What weapons did the Māori use in the land wars?

Maori Weapons

• Large stone patu.
• Patu Ōnewa.
• Patu Parāoa.
• Taiaha.
• Taiaha head in detail.
• Mere Pounamu.
• Wooden Wahaika.