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FIG. 4 (above): Te Raumiria te Haunui of Ruatoki. By James
McDonald (1865–1935).
Wellington, Aotearoa. July 1908.
Half-plate glass negative. 20 x 15 cm.
Michael Graham-Stewart Collection, Auckland.
This image is believed to be of Te Raumiria te Haunui, but
this is yet to be confi rmed.4 Haunui was the mother of Te
Akakura (Patu) Ru of the Ngāti Rongo hapū of Tūhoe, one
of the prophet Rua Kenana Hepetipa’s many wives and
said to be his favorite wife. Haunui was a high-ranking
chieftainess of Tauarau Ruatoki, and in this image her
moko kauae is shown to be deeply chiseled around her lips.
According to a 1932 New Zealand Herald article, Haunui
was Rua’s favorite mother-in-law and by the 1930s had
suffered from a disability attributed to sorcery, mākutu.5
In the early twentieth century the activities of the
prophet Rua included establishing a new religious order and
community at Maungapohatu, which he called the “City of
God.”6 He claimed to be the son of Jehovah, the brother
of Jesus;7 was referred to as mihaia, the messiah; and was
acknowledged to have healing powers and the ability to
raise the dead. Coupled with this was Rua’s outspoken
political views for greater legal equality for Māori at a time
of pākehā farming expansion, which alarmed and provoked
the New Zealand Government to enact the Tohunga
Suppression Act of 1907. One of the consequences of this
act was the effective outlawing of the practice of tā moko.
in the Maori world. It is a display of a person’s
integrity and an immutable connection to ancestors.
In 1921, James Cowan noted the words of
elderly warrior Netana Whakaari of Waimana:
You may lose your most valuable property
through misfortune in various ways; you may lose
your house, your patu pounamu, your wife, and
other treasures—you may be robbed of all your
most prized possessions, but of your moko you
cannot be deprived. Except by death. It will be
your ornament and your companion until your
last day.
There are historical accounts of the process
of ta moko. Many vary, but in general during
the fi rst half of the nineteenth century the main
tool employed was the chisel, uhi, or, more fully,
te uhi a Mataora—the chisel of Mataora—
so named for the above-mentioned chief who
brought the art of ta moko to the natural world.
Chisel blades were carved from bone which was
then bound onto a wooden handle. The tohunga
would own blades in differing sizes and forms.
Some were toothed to prick the skin, while others
were fl at tipped and sharpened to cut into
the skin. From the 1840s onward, tohunga supplemented
bone chisels with metal tools, which
enabled deeper incisions. This new technology
gave birth to a period of fl ourishing designs,
particularly during the revivalist period of the
1860s when the second Maori king Tukaroto
Matutaera Potatau Te Wherowhero Tawhiao,
the leader of resistance to colonial governance,
announced his wishes that all young warriors
(toa) should receive moko.
Ta moko was a slow and painful process. The
tohunga mapped out the design upon the face
with charcoal, then the chisel would be tapped
rhythmically with a small mallet so the blade
sunk deep into the skin, creating incised channels
and grooves to be fi lled with dye to pigment
the skin. The dye, wai ngarahu, itself was tapu
(sacred) and was made from mixtures of soot
and fat. The soot came from several sources,
including burnt wood, kauri tree resin, and the
remarkable “vegetable caterpillars,” awheto,
which are the hardened remains of moth larvae
consumed by a parasitic fungus. Among the ritual
observances and objects associated with ta