Titel: Wahaika

Native Art

Artist: Te Rangikapiki Fraser (Maori)

Profile artist:

This beautiful piece of art is based on a traditional Maori weapon, the wahaika. A wahaika or "mouth of the fish" is used by the Maori in hand-to-hand combat. It is named for the notch on the side used to capture an opponent's weapon. The artwork was created by Te Rangikapiki Fraser, a talented Maori artist. He carved this beautiful wahaika from ironwood and finished it with duck feathers and harakeke, a New Zealand flax plant.