Whence
Hei-tiki (greenstone pendant)
Invention

Where does Hei-tiki (greenstone pendant) come from?

The hei-tiki comes from New Zealand (Aotearoa). It is a Māori neck pendant in the form of a human figure, usually carved from pounamu, New Zealand greenstone, and old ones are treasured as taonga and handed down from generation to generation.

A figure worn at the neck

Hei means something hung from the neck, and tiki is the Māori name for human figures. In Māori tradition Tiki was also the first man, and one theory links the pendant to him. The figures are either female or sexless. Their precise meaning is unclear: some see them as memorials to ancestors, others link them to fertility and childbirth, and a hei-tiki was often given to a woman by her husband's family if she was having trouble conceiving.

Shaped by patience

The most valuable hei-tiki are carved from pounamu, a nephrite or bowenite prized for its beauty, toughness and great hardness; the nephrite is found in the South Island. The stone was probably first cut in the shape of a small adze blade, and the tilted head saves precious stone. It was smoothed by abrasive rubbing, then slowly shaped with sticks and water. After long polishing, the pendant hung from a plaited flax cord, its eyes often inlaid with rings of pāua shell.

Why people think of Hawaii

Tiki carvings make many people think of Hawaii, but that picture comes largely from mainland America. American 'tiki culture' began in 1933 with a Polynesian-themed bar in California, and it took its name from the Māori Tiki. Tiki bars opened in Hawaii too, and after Hawaii became a US state in 1959, surfers in California wore tiki necklaces. Yet Hawaiians had not used the word tiki: their word is kiʻi. The hei-tiki itself is Māori, carved from New Zealand stone.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Hei tiki ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Tiki culture ↗ · artsandculture.google.com ↗ · canterburymuseum.com ↗

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