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Natural designs
The forms of these pendants were inspired by pekapeka (native bats) and matau (fish hooks). The latter have particular significance for Maori.
Hei matau (hook-shaped pendants) are a symbol of Maui, an ancestral hero from the Pacific. Maori creation stories relate how Maui and his brothers fished up New Zealand’s North Island – Te Ika-a-Maui (the great fish of Maui). The sweeping coastline of Hawke’s Bay is known as Te Matau-a-Maui (the fish hook of Maui).
For Maori, the fish hook also symbolises fishing generally, the sea, and Tangaroa (god of the sea).