wahaika
A wahaika is a type of traditional Māori hand weapon. Wahaika are short club-like weapons usually made of wood or whalebone and are used for thrusting and striking in close-quarter, hand-to-hand fighting. Whalebone wahaika are called wahaika parāoa. • Illustration — Wahaika, circa 1900.
wahaika
Photograph: Andreas Praefcke · Self-photographed · Public domain
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Wahaika translates to "mouth of the fish", in reference to the notch on one side which is used to catch an opponent's weapon. On the other side just above the handle the concave tip above a carved humanoid figure is the primary striking edge, particularly used against the opponent's temples, face, and ribs. The rest of the spherical edge is sharp like a blade. Wooden wahaika are often carved with intricate designs. In addition to being a fighting weapon, rangatira would hold wahaika during ceremonies and speeches, especially if they wanted people to pay attention to something important. Special wahaika would only be given to people with considerable ranking in the Māori tribal structure. The resemblance of the wahaika to the Chilean Mapuche people's clava hand club has been cited as "soft evidence" for Pre-Columbian Polynesia-South America contact. • Illustration — Two wooden and one whalebone wahaika in Te Papa Museum
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Wahaika, revision 1301934141 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Imbelloni, J. On the diffusion in America of patu onewa, okewa, patu paraoa, miti, and other relatives of the mere family, p 322-345. The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 39. 339, 342. 1930.
- 2.Matamua, Rangi. Mau rākau: wahaika parāoa. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 2013.
- 3.Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Wahaika (hand club). Collections Online.
- 4.National Army Museum: Te Mata Toa. Maori Weapons (Patu, Taiaha, etc). 16 June 2016.
- 5.Moorfield, John C. wahaika. Māori Dictionary.
- 6.National Museum of Australia. Club patu kotiate.
- 7.National Library of New Zealand. Wahaika.
- 8.Wood, Stacey. Hokitika man's carving fit for a president. Stuff. 2011.
- 9.Ramírez-Aliaga, José-Miguel. The Polynesian-Mapuche connection: Soft and Hard Evidence and New Ideas. Rapa Nui Journal. 24. 1. 29–33. 2010.
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