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Overview
High fashion for Māori men in the pre-European and early contact periods consisted of a range of items of personal adornment. One particular aspect of men’s high fashion was to oil, braid and dress the hair upon the head in elaborate topknots that were enhanced with heru (combs) and bird feathers, particularly feathers from the now extinct hūia (Heteralocha acutirostris).
This was an essentially and elegant accessory for any aristocratic man as an outward expression of his mana (nobility, authority, and prestige), and that of his hapū (clan/ sub-tribe) and iwi (tribe).
Items of personal adornment, especially those in contact with the head, were particularly tapu (sacred, restricted), because the head is the most sacred part of the body.
This heru is typical of whatearly European visitors like Captain James Cook encountered during the late 18th century.