Skip to main content

Story: Te hī ika – Māori fishing

Feast, Bay of Islands

Image
Feast, Bay of Islands

This watercolour by Cuthbert Clarke depicts a massive wooden construction built to hold the food at feasts (hākari) such as this one at the Bay of Islands in 1849. Often the gifting of fish took place as part of large-scale feasts.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: B-030-007

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.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Paul Meredith, Te hī ika – Māori fishing – Communal sharing and gifting, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/6815/feast-bay-of-islands (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Meredith, published 2 March 2009.