Story: Māori musical instruments – taonga puoro

Playing the nose flute, 1923

The kōauau may be played either with the mouth or the nose. In 1923 Āporo of Gisborne was photographed and recorded playing his kōauau by stopping one nostril with his thumb and blowing through the other.

Using this item

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Reference: MA_B.002227

by James Macdonald

Permission of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Brian Flintoff, Māori musical instruments – taonga puoro – Melodic instruments – the family of Rangi, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/42160/playing-the-nose-flute-1923 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Brian Flintoff, published 9 July 2013.

Comments

shakeelah0425
06 July 2015

i love this instrument because i play the instrument and play a song out of it.