Tewhatewha
| Tewhatewha | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Information | |
| Weapon type: | Percussion weapon |
| Designations: | Tewhatewha (Tehwa-Tehwa), Paiaka, Taiaha |
| Use: | Weapon, traditional weapon, professional weapon |
| Creation time: | before the 16th century |
| Working time: | til today |
| Region of origin / author: |
New Zealand , Māori tribes |
| Distribution: | New Zealand |
| Overall length: | about 120 cm |
| Blade width: | about 15-20 cm at the head |
| Handle: | Whale bones, wood, feathers |
| Lists on the subject | |
The Tewhatewha (also Paiaka or Taiaha ) is an elongated club used by the Māori , the indigenous people of New Zealand .
history
The Tewhatewha , a striking and thrusting weapon, was developed by the Māori as an offensive and defensive weapon. The Tewhatewha is also a class object that plays an important role in the Māori tradition. Along with the Toki-Pou-Tangata, it is a symbol for the chief (Ariki) of a tribe.
Pei Te Hurinui Jones (1898–1976) with Tewhatewha. Unknown photographer, Alexander Turnbull Library
Tukukino , 1878 by Gottfried Lindauer , oil on canvas. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki
description
The Tewhatewha is made from either whale bones or hardwood. It is about 120 cm long.
The shaft, about 15–20 mm in diameter, is round and becomes thinner from the impact head until it tapers to a point at the end and forms a sharp spike there. The center of the shaft is often decorated with ribbon-shaped carvings.
The impact head has roughly the shape of a quarter circle. The outer edge is sharpened on the round side. The whole Tewhatewha is polished. You can use them for punching and stabbing. The impact head is often used as a handle and the shaft for stabbing and striking.
A tuft of feathers is attached just behind the striking head, which serves to distract the enemy during the fight.
See also
literature
- Edward Tregear : The Maori Race. AD Willis, Wanganui 1904, p. 312. ( Chapter: Weapons, Etc. ).
- Te Rangi Hiroa : The Coming of the Maori. Maori Purposes Fund Board, Wellington 1949, p. 275 ( Chapter: Long Clubs ).
- George Cameron Stone : A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration, and Use of Arms and Armor in All Countries and in All Times: Together with Some Closely Related Subjects. Southwork Press, Portland, Maine 1934, p. 612. (Reprint: Dover Publications, Mineola, New York 1999, ISBN 0-486-40726-8 , preview on Google Book Search ).
- William Ockelford Oldman: The Oldman collection of Maori artifacts . New edition. The Polynesian Society , Welltingen 2004, ISBN 0-908940-05-X . ( Memoirs of the Polynesian Society. No. 14).