Taiaha
| Taiaha | |
|---|---|
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| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Striking weapon, throwing weapon |
| Designations: | Hani |
| Use: | Weapon, traditional weapon |
| Working time: | til today |
| Region of origin / author: |
New Zealand , Māori |
| Distribution: | New Zealand |
| Overall length: | approx. 150 cm to 180 cm |
| Handle: | Wood |
| Particularities: | A jade blade is used in some versions . |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Taiaha (also called Hani ) is the club and spear of the New Zealand natives, the Māori .
history
The Taiaha was developed by the Māori as a close combat weapon . The use of Mau rākau , the Moral martial arts, is taught.
description
The Taiaha consists entirely of hardwood and is divided into three parts: arero (striking head) with the upoko (head, butt tip ) and the tinana or ate . The shaft (handle) is round in cross section. At one end it has a spear-shaped blade ( arero ) and at the other end a broad striking head ( ate , tinana ). The spearhead is made of wood and decorated.
The head end becomes flat from the round center and wider towards the end. This end is cut off smoothly and resembles a boat paddle. This end is used for punching, the other for stabbing. The flat flip side and the tip or tongue ( arero ) are elaborately decorated with carvings, as an ornamental deposits (for eyes) are occasionally the New Zealand abalone snail paua ( Haliotis iris ). A wreath of hair is attached below the tip.
The length of the Taiaha is about 150 cm (rarely longer). There are isolated variants in which a jade spearhead was used.
The coat of arms of New Zealand , introduced in 1956, shows a Māori with a Taiaha.
See also
literature
- Adrienne Lois Kaeppler : The Pacific arts of Polynesia and Micronesia Oxford history of art. Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-284238-1
- Tony Sole: Ngāti Ruanui: a history. Huia Publishers, 2005, ISBN 978-1-86969-180-6
- Makereti Papakura : The Old-Time Maori. READ BOOKS, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4067-9329-1
- George Cameron Stone : A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times Reprint. Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 1999, ISBN 978-0-486-40726-5 , pp. 280-281.
Web links
- Taiaha Maori Spear with Greenstone (Jade) Tongue . FromNZ, archived from the original onJune 6, 2009; accessed on September 10, 2014(English, original website no longer available).
- Taiaha in the Museum of New Zealand
- Maori and Pacific Artefacts . (PDF 3.0 MB)Dunbar Sloane, archived from the original onNovember 10, 2007; accessed on September 10, 2014(English, original website no longer available; (catalog with images from the auction house's auction of May 14, 2007)).
- Historic photo, warrior with Taiaha
Individual evidence
- ^ John White: The Ancient History of the Maori. Didsbury, Wellington 1887 ff.