Explore Collection highlights

Double-Sided Hei-Tiki

This double-sided hei-tiki is believed to date from the Te Puawaitanga period (1500 to 1800), an historical era during which Maaori art flourished.

As marks of special distinction, hei-tiki are personally named because they carry the mana of those who owned them. 

When brought onto a marae, hei-tiki may be greeted as people, as if the ancestors they represented are physically present.

Maker

Unknown

Noo hea
Where

Unknown (Opoia Paa, Kirikiriroa Hamilton)

Ua
When

1500-1800

Iwi

Waikato/Tainui

1/3

Made from pounamu

Traditionally used in Maaori carving, pounamu is also known as greenstone, nephrite, or more generically as jade.

Found on the site of the Opoia Paa, Kirikiriroa Hamilton, this hei-tiki was gifted to the Waikato Historical Society in 1961 by Mr and Mrs Arthur Leslie Fow. 

The Waikato Historical Society’s collection of items related to Maaori, European and Pacific Island material culture became the initial base of our Museum’s collection.

Further journeys

The hei-tiki was one of the objects borrowed from our collection for the ground-breaking Te Maori exhibition that travelled to New York in 1984.

The taonga later featured in Waikato Museum’s landmark 1997 exhibition, Tainui: The Journey.

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