Pounamu Manu Tukutuku
Manu Tukutuku is the Māori kite. Manu means both kite and bird, makes sense really. Tukutuku refers to the winding out of the line as the kite ascends.
Kites were flown for recreation, but they also had other purposes. They were used for divination – to gauge whether an attack on an enemy stronghold would be successful or to locate wrongdoers. They were used as a means of communication. And Kites were flown to celebrate the start of the Māori New Year, when Matariki (the Pleiades) appeared in the mid-winter night sky.
In some stories, the god Tāwhaki ascended to the heavens and retrieved the baskets of knowledge on a kite made from the bark of the aute (paper mulberry) tree.
So you can see, the Manu Tukutuku are an integral part of te ao Māori -guiding, communicating, celebrating and just for fun.
- One of a kind taonga by Timoti
- Kahurangi pounamu from Te Tai Poutini
- 72mm length x 42mm width
$475.00
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