Within Māori society the exchange of food often took place through reciprocal gifting. In this 1849 watercolour Cuthbert Clarke records a large wooden construction used to hold food on the occasion of a feast, probably when one hapū (sub-tribe) visited another. Later Māori extended the principle of exchanging goods through use of a barter system with Europeans.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference:
B-030-007
Watercolour by Cuthbert Charles Clarke
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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