Taiaha (long fighting staff)

item details

NameTaiaha (long fighting staff)

ProductionUnknown; carver; 1750-1840; North Island

Classificationedged weapons, taiaha

Materialswood, muka (fibre), dog hair, linen

Materials Summarywood, kuri (dog hair), muka fibre, linen cloth

Techniquessculpture techniques, carving

DimensionsOverall: 57mm (width), 1575mm (length), 742g (weight)

Registration NumberME023139

Credit linePurchased 2002

Overview

A taiaha is a hand weapon usually made from hard wood, or sometimes whale bone, and usually about 1.5 metres long. Taiaha have one end carved in the shape of an upoko (head) with a face on each side. The eyes of the two faces see all around, reflecting the alertness of the taiaha exponent. An arero (tongue) protruding from the upoko forms one end of the weapon. The upoko is adorned with a tauri (collar) of feathers and/or dog hair, the tassels of which form the awe. Below this, the tinana (body) provides the grip. The other end of the taiaha has a flat smooth blade, or rau, usually about5 to7 centimetres wide, which is the main striking blade.

Details
This taiaha has customary detailing, including triple haehae (parallel grooves) lines and raised patapata (parallel lines) with oblique angled pākati (dog tooth pattern) notches on the spiral area. It has angled eye work and fine adze marks showing rippling effects that suggest stone tooling. The tauri consists of an awe tightly bound with muka (flax fibre) and linen material.

Significance
This taiaha kura belonged to Ngāti Hao-Ngā Puhi leader and tohunga (elder) Tāmati Wāka Nene (Thomas Walker) of Hokianga. Nene was an influential leader among the Ngā Puhi people and advocated for the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi 1840.

The Treaty of Waitangi
The taiaha symbolises that dramatic moment in New Zealand history when Māori entered into an historic agreement with the British Crown. The British considered that they had acquired sovereignty over New Zealand, but to Māori people the Treaty had a very different significance. Controversy surrounding interpretation of the Treaty still continues.

History
On the 6 February 1840, the day the treaty was signed by the northern chiefs, Nene presented this taiaha to the Wesleyan missionary Gideon Smales. According to Smales: '… the overpowering influence of my old friend Tamati Waka carried the day'. In the Northern Wars of the 1840s, Nene sided with the British against the local Ngā Puhi rebel leaders Hōne Heke and Kawiti, who were eventually overpowered by the sheer force of the British Regiments brought against them.