Canoe guardian [huaki]

For centuries, prior to the mid nineteenth century, waka taua (war canoes) transported Maori warriors along the coast and rivers to raid enemy settlements as part of a cycle of utu (revenge) skirmishes. The war canoe was a spiritually charged symbol of community identity. The canoe with its ornate prow and stern may be considered the physical body of an ancestor in which warriors can connect to ancestral strength, a vital source of power and protection. Each canoe had a decoratively carved prow where a squatting hauki guardian figure faced inwards with a fixed gaze on the warriors symbolising those eminent ancestors who spiritually accompanied them. The war canoe that the Gallery’s hauki was carved for would have been exceptionally huge and capable of carrying a small army of around a hundred or more warriors.

There is a distinctive style to this hauki figure. The rich texture of carving playing across the surface is exquisite suggesting it was made during Te Puāwaitanga, the flowering, period of Maori art. The flowering period is thought to have its origins around the start of the sixteenth century continuing through to the late eighteenth century and is characterised by a departure from the minimal geometric surface designs upon sculptural objects which identify the earlier growth period Te Tipunga to curvilinear designs of increasing complexity as seen in this work. While the hauki is only a fragment of a massive canoe’s prow, the magnificent figure has retained a presence exemplifying the skill of its maker, a tohunga whakairo (master carver) whose ability and knowledge of sculpture justly elevated him to a priest-like status.

The majority of traditional Pacific art was made from perishable materials, lessening the number of older objects that survive today, and this has regrettably created gaps in our understanding of art histories in the Pacific region. In New Zealand, however, important objects were well preserved. Called taonga tuku iho (treasure handed down from the ancestors), these items were painstakingly repaired and cared for, growing in significance as they were passed down from generation to generation as heirlooms. The Gallery’s hauki guardian figure, with its bronze-like patinated surface is one of these rare survivors from an earlier time.

Two small samples from the hauki were collected by the Gallery’s Conservation department for radiocarbon dating, a method of dating organic material. One sample was sent to a Laboratory in New Zealand and the other to the Australian National University. According to the results it may have been created as early as the 15th century although its style suggests it was produced at a later of date during the late 17th to 18th century.

Text © National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 2010