HUNTING | maorifoodhistoryarea

What foods including sea life did the Maori hunt and how did they hunt them?

Birds

Birds were hunted by:

Snares, which is done by: using a rope/ Flax with a loop that caught the bird by its neck or feet

Using a spear, more commonly known as Spearing, to spear the bird and kill it.

hitting them with a rod or a branch when they landed and perched Stealing them from their nests at night, when they’re asleep. By Trapping them By hunting them with Dogs.

Some of the traping methods were like this:

Tākiri method
In the tākiri method, a single snare is put on a perch. Birds are caught by the feet in the snare when the person waiting pulls on an attached cord with a quick tug (tākiri) they are trapped. There are three snares used in this method: the mutu, tumu and pewa.

Mutu
The mutu snare (called tumu or pewa in some areas) was used both on the ground and in trees.

The mutu was made from a single piece of wood, L- or T-shaped, with a horizontal

perch and a vertical upright. The mutu was often carved and weathered. A looped snare was

hung over the mutu. It was lifted to the tree on a rod

and hooked over another rod attached to a branch. When a bird landed on the perch,

the looped snare was tugged, trapping the bird against the upright. The bird then unhooked

the mutu, keeping the cord tight, the mutu brought the bird down and killed it. The snare was

rearranged and placed backup for the next bird.
The mutu was used in miro, hīnau, maire, kahikatea, tawai, rātā and rimu trees. The word for

a tree in which it was used extensively is tūtū.

Tumu
Used by the Ngāti Raukawa tribe, a tumu was a slightly different type of snaring perch, placed on small trees or shrubs. It was not man-made like the mutu – rather, it was a small branch that divided into two pieces. These were tied together at one end. The branch was left growing on the tree, or cut and attached to another tree, and a snare-loop was placed on it. A cord tied to this loop led to a shelter where the person was hidden. When a bird landed, the person pulled the loop, similar to the mutu. The cord had a peg at one end, which was stuck in the ground, stopping the bird. Once most of the snares were full, the person would come out, take the birds, and reset the snares.

Pewa
The pewa was used in a similar way to the mutu and tumu. Rather than a single upright perch, it had an upright with a perch went out horizontally and a strut supporting the uppish and perch. A lure of ripe berries or flowers with nectar was often tied to the perch to attract birds, and moss or lichen was attached to disguise it.

Tāhei (taeke) method
In the tāhei method the snare was unattended. A row of snares tied with slip knots were

attached to a cord, or a rod secured horizontally between branches. The snares were

set close to a straight branch or perch. The birds would sit on the branch or perch and

be caught by their necks. As they struggled, the slipknot would tighten and catch them.
A tree on which these snares were set was called a rākau tāhei, rākau taeke or taumatua.

When the snares were set near water, the water was known as wai tāhei or wai taheke.

Snares were visited once or twice a day. The person would gather the caught birds and

readjust the snares. These unattended snares did not work for kākā, which would rip

them apart with their beaks.

Luring birds

Māori had several ways of luring birds so they could catch them.

They imitated bird calls, sometimes by blowing through a leaf or whistling.
A pet kākā was tied to a pole to attract other parrots.
A water trough was put in a tree. When the birds came to drink, they were caught spared, hunted ect.

Spears

The short spears known as maiere were about 3 to 4 metres long, they were used to take birds on shrubs and small trees. Long spears 6 to 11 metres were called tao kaihua or taoroa, they were used on big trees. Taoroa were so long, they were not carried but dragged along. Bird spears were made from tawa wood, kāpara (heartwood of rimu or kahikatea), and sometimes aka (stems of climbing plants). They had a sharp point (tara), sometimes detachable. Tara were made from bone (usually human), from hardwood or hard parts of tree-fern trunks, or even from stingray spine or pounamu (greenstone). A tree on which the spear was used was known as a kaihua or rākau wero. Kākā were speared on rātā, kōwhai and tāwari trees.

Tari method The tari scheme involved a hitch tied with a slip knot on a rod. The maori would needed to get close enough to slip the hitch over the bird’s head. They would coax the bird using a small branch or a fake or dead bird, or by mimicking that bird’s call. To catch a weka, the maori would rustle a branch in one hand. This brought the weka close enough to put the hitch over its head.

Hauhau method In the hauhau plan, the maori would hide in a shelter such as whare rau ponga

(tree-fern frond hut). The trap would look/work like this, the maori would set

up a set up a pae kōkō (tūī perch), (a 2.5-metre-long rod fastened on an angle

to two saplings). Birds were often attracted with another bird whether it being

fake or a pet, or by imitating their call. The maori would hold the rod against

the perch. When a bird landed, it was hit with a mighty blow, using the hauhau manu (bird-striker) – a thick, round rod, about 1.5 metres long. The tūī, hihi (stitchbird), kōpara (bellbird), tīeke (saddleback), kōkako (crow), and tātaihore (whitehead) were caught in this way. Sometimes, the perch was set up near the water. When thirsty birds landed on it, the maori hit them. Another structure consisted of two vertical poles, with a horizontal pole fastened between them about 1.5 metres above the ground.

Hopu kōkō During the day, Maori would locate tūī nests and mark the trails using light-coloured rangiora leaves, so they could find their during the night, seeing the leaves by the light of a torch. This plan would take place just after midnight and just before dawn so it was easier for the next part of the plan to happen. Then they would climb the trees and grab (hopu) the bird (kōkō). The Ngāti Porou tribe called this method rutu (dash down), as the maori would knock the branch. The birds were often so cold that they simply fell to the ground.

Traps The Maori used a variety of traps some commonly used ones went like this. The korapa, a small U-shaped net, was a trap for karuwai (robins). Bait was scattered close by, and the trap was pulled down on a karuwai when it arrived.The puaka was a spring snare (tāwhiti) inside an enclosure. The bird would walk over the snare, release the spring and be caught

Kiore were an important source of protein for Māori. Because the rats did not carry transmissible diseases like they would now days, they presented little or no threat to human health. Because kiore was so important, tribes set rāhui (restrictions on killing) or created forest reserves so kiore could breed, and in the right season they were harvested for food. These reserves were owned by specific iwi and hapū, and were jealously guarded. Special permission was needed for strangers wanting to harvest the animals.

Hunting and preservation Kiore hunting was well organised. Ara kiore (rat tracks) in the forest or on hillsides, no matter how steep the gradient, were lined with traps . They traps were almost all different the traps were these: tāwhiti kiore (unbaited traps), pokipoki (baited traps)and paepae-kiore (pit traps)that were dug in a way that made it hard for kiore to escape.

Once caught and killed, kiore were skinned and roasted over a fire or pre-cooked in a hāngī (covered stone oven). They were placed in fruit then in their own hinu (fat), which acted as a preservative once set. Kiore huahua (preserved rat) was saved as a delicacy for visitors.

Because kiore were a special delicacy, they were a form of currency at many ceremonial occasions. The custom of kaihaukai (feast gifts) was carried out at food feasts between coastal and interior tribes, were preserved rat was served. Sometimes battles between warring factions were played out with reciprocal feasts. The open display of food indicated a tribe’s mana (prestige), and the lesser opponent had to pay homage to the victor in some form.

One great feast, called Ngā-tau-tuku-roa, was hosted by the central Hawke’s Bay chief Te Rehunga in response to a taunt. At the feast he served kiore preserved in fat. His opponent, Tama-i-waho, paid homage to his mana and gifted lands to Te Rehunga. He confirmed the contract with food, and placed kiore huhudi (plucked rats) on hills to mark the boundaries of the gift. The name Takapau was given to this area, after the sacred mat on which Te Rehunga’s feast was presented.

Kiore

Seafood

Gifts of the sea

Because New Zealand has about the fourth largest fishing zone in the world, it has access to a great variety of seafood. It is therefore surprising that the average New Zealander consumes very little of it. This was not the case in pre-European times, when seafood was a major component of the Māori diet. Māori were well accomplished fishermen, using nets and traps as well as hooked lines to catch fish.

Early Māori diet

By analysing different fish bones at varried coastal sites, archaeologists have found that one or two fish dominated the catches over a long period. In the North Island, snapper was the main catch; barracouta and red cod were the major species caught in the South Island.

Seashells and crayfish were also harvested. The kinds and quantities eaten varied according to location, although cockles feature prominently in middens (ancient rubbish sites) near estuaries throughout New Zealand. Other common species consumed included pāua (abalone), pipi, tuatua, titiko (mud snails), mussels, limpets and cat’s eyes.

Fresh seafood was usually cooked by laying the flesh on heated rocks. Shellfish were often eaten raw. Māori preserved much of their seafood to eat later or trade. Fresh fish and shellfish meat was hung on poles to dry in the sun, or baked first before hanging.

Fish could be caught like this:

Nets

The construction of nets was a tapu (sacred) job. Most nets were made of green flax, and they ranged in size from individual tītoko ika (hand nets) to very large kaharoa (large nets). In each net a certain way of making it had to be followed. The base was weighed down with māhē (stone sinkers), and fruits or light woods were sometimes used as pōito (floats). The largest net documented was created in 1886 by Te Pōkiha Taranui (alsao known as Major Fox) and te hard work of 400 others of Ngāti Pikiao tribe,in Maketū in the Bay of Plenty. About 1.6 kilometres long, it was used only once to procure tens of thousands of fish for a major tribal gathering.

Lines, hooks and spears Lines and hooks were very popular for catching hāpuku and kahawai. To attract kahawai, iridescent pāua shell was used on lures. The lines were quite strong, and made of flax fibre that was twisted into cord. Hooks changed in size and shape and were made from a variety of material such as: wood, bone, stone or shell. Sometimes a gorge was used. This was a sharp piece of bone on a line, which caught in a fish’s throat when pulled. Pātiki (flounder) were sometimes caught with barbed spears similar to those used for hunting birds.

Pots Tāruke (pots) filled with bait were used to catch crayfish. The pots were made from young mānuka stems, which were bent around a frame of supplejack vine , then tied with flax and vines.