Image
These lizards at Whakarewarewa are part of a carving showing Kurangaituku, a bird woman. Lizards were often released as guardians of the forest’s mauri (life force). Mauri represented the health or vitality of the forest. It was protected by a physical object, usually a stone which was also known as a mauri.
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Reference: PAColl-6585-04
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.