Story: Hōkakatanga – Māori sexualities

Carving from Te Puawai o Te Arawa

Carving from Te Puawai o Te Arawa

This amo (post) from Te Puawai o Te Arawa, a carved storehouse which is now in the Auckland Museum, depicts a couple having sex. It is one of a number of examples of carvings depicting sexual relations that have been identified by academic Ngahuia Te Awekotuku.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, A. E. Birch Collection
Reference: 1/1-003279-G
Photograph by Thomas Pringle

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.

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How to cite this page:

Clive Aspin, 'Hōkakatanga – Māori sexualities - Sexuality in Māori tradition', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/31691/carving-from-te-puawai-o-te-arawa (accessed 28 March 2024)

Story by Clive Aspin, published 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 22 Jan 2019