early maori clothing
TRANSCRIPT
MAORI CLOTHING AND MAKE UP OF TRIBES
By Dallas, Ella, Georgia and Wilfred
TRIBAL MAKE UP
When a whanau joins with another whanau it creates an iwi. Then if more whanau join on, it
creates a hapu and if more whanau keep joining together soon it creates a tribe. Then if
more and more whanau join the tribe gets bigger.
Maori society was gendered, in other words the roles of woman and men were different. Women had less power than men. A woman could be chief but mostly all chiefs were men. A God could be a woman but most Gods were men. Woman held power to invite men to tribal meetings. Men were the only people with the right to speak at tribal meetings. Men fought in wars, worked with wood, planted crops, made waka and wrote prayers.
DIFFERENCES TO WOMEN AND MEN
CLOTHING
Both women and men were bare from the waist up. Women wore flax or cloth skirts and normally had bare feet. Women had a special
apron called a maro kopua. Men wore different types of cloaks. Here are some
names: Kahu, Kahu kekeno, Kahu kiwi and a sealskin cloak.
TattoosThe Polynesian art of tattooing was used a lot in New Zealand. Women had tattoos called a moku on their chin. Men had tattoos on their whole faces.During the process, the artist and the patient were under a state of tapu.