Tangaroa figure

About this item

Title

Tangaroa figure

Content partner

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Collection

Te Papa Collections Online

Description

Before the introduction of Christianity, Cook Islands people worshipped a pantheon of gods and deities. On some islands, Tangaroa was considered the principal god of the sea and of creation. Images of him took many forms and were made from stone, wood, shell, pandanus leaf, tapa (bark cloth) and human hair. On the islands of Rarotonga and Aitutaki, he took human form in wooden figures carved by ta‘unga (specialists).1 Significance  These figures were distinctive for their heavy-set features —...

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Format

Image

Date created

1990-1991

Creator

Exham Wichman

URL

https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/154917

Related subjects

Gods / wood / ceremonial objects / sculpture / figures / Religion / woodcarving / Cook Islands / Rarotonga / Polynesian / Cook Islands Māori

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