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Kōrero: Hauraki–Coromandel region

Waka head

This carved male head with moko (facial tattoos), seen here in front and side views, is from the prow of a waka (canoe). The waka was built by Ngāti Maru as part of their response to the slaughter carried out by the musket-armed warriors of Ngāpuhi at Tōtara , near present-day Thames, in 1822.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: A-274-026

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.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Paul Monin, Hauraki–Coromandel region – Māori and European: 1769 to 1840, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/zoomify/30401/waka-head (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Paul Monin, i tāngia i te 13 December 2010, updated 1 April 2016.