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The Maori Race
Tools, Etc
Tools, Etc.
The most valuable of Maori tools was the stone axe (toki) in some shape or dimension, for with its aid trees were felled, or partially felled, and thus was commenced the clearing of forest for agriculture, the preparation of timber for canoes or habitations, and the carving or other adornment of the many utensils and adjuncts of social life. It seems difficult to define where the line should be drawn between a stone and the ruder form of axe, for the tool has low forms differing little from rough flakes of stone. Thence it rises through all degrees of excellence of workmanship and in every variety of lithic material, from the palœolithic to the neolithic stage, till it takes shape in the well-ground axe, truly proportioned and admirably adapted to its work.
The largest-sized axe (toki titaha or toki whakapae) was very heavy, even up to 14 lbs. or 15 lbs. weight, and was fastened to the end of a long pole, the axe-head being set with its longest axis straight with the pole, and the whole used as a battering ram. A ring was punched in this manner all round the tree, then another a few inches above it, and the page 320 intermediate chips knocked out. The smaller axes (panekeneke, toki-hangai, and patiti) were generally set as adzes (kapu), the wooden handles being shaped so as to hold the stone-blade securely. The axe-head was firmly lashed to the handle round the amai or back part. It is said that Rupe, the brother of Maui, first taught the use of the stone axe (ure or toki), and his directions were to make the handle (kakau) in the shape of a man's leg and foot, the axe-head being fastened to the sole (kapukapu) of the wooden foot.
Long narrow axes were used as chisels (whao) or gouges, and, being lashed long-wise to a handle, were struck with a piece of wood as a mallet. Very small axes, especially those used for delicate carving, were sometimes held in the hand and were without a handle. Sometimes these were of jade, but are to be found in almost any kind of stone that would take a cutting - edge. The war - axe (toki-hohoupu) was borne by chiefs more as an emblem of authority than as a weapon.23
When a sharp cut had to be made, such as in trimming the hair, or in slashing the body (in sign of mourning), a flake of quartzite or obsidian (tuhua) was employed, as a stone tool could not be ground to an edge keen enough for the purpose. A mussel (kuku) shell or other bivalve shell was also used for a similar purpose on occasion. Both the obsidian and the shell were used as planes (waru) to scrape and polish a wooden surface.
A kind of stone file or saw (kani) for cutting stone and a whetstone or hone (hoanga) page 321 were among the lesser Maori tools. Wooden wedges (kahi, matakahi, ora) were in use for splitting timber. The fern-pounder (paoi) was a small wooden club; the maul (ta) was useful for driving stakes.
The principal agricultural tool was the digging-stick (ko), this being a pole or shaft of hard wood from seven to ten feet in length, with a step or foot-rest (hamaruru) lashed on about a foot from the end that entered the ground, this end being pointed or with an edge at foot and sides. The ko was sometimes used as a weapon. It was held in both hands when used for digging with and forced into the ground with the left foot. The loosened earth was removed with spades (called by many different names, rapa, kaheru, tihou, puka, tikoko, hapara, hoto, etc.) or broken up smaller with a pick-axe (keri-whenua or tima), a hoe (kara-one), a weeding stick (koko), or a rake or a scratcher (rakuraku). A small thin tool used in prodding for fern-root was called tokitoki. The shell (angatupa) of a large bivalve (Vola lalicostata) was used for cutting across the runners of convolvulus roots used for food.