Summary

This tata, or canoe bailer, comes from the Tauranga Moana region and is carved from a single piece of hardwood. It has a wide, shallow blade for scooping water and a high curved handle, decorated with spiral carving. The handle may represent a manaia or stylised head, which is common in carvings from Te Moana-a-Toi (Neich, 2001).

The pointed end at the back helps direct water out of the canoe, a design also described by Best (1925) and Buck (1927). While tata were everyday tools, they were often carefully made and decorated, showing the Maori value of combining function with beauty and meaning.

This bailer reflects how important waka and water travel were to Maori communities, and how even simple tools carried cultural and artistic significance.

References:
Buck, Peter (Te Rangi Hiroa). The Material Culture of the Maori. Dominion Museum, 1927.
Best, Elsdon. The Maori Canoe. Dominion Museum Bulletin No. 7, 1925.
Neich, Roger. Carved Histories: Rotorua Ngati Tarawhai Woodcarving. Auckland University Press, 2001.

Local Name

Tata or iheru

Physical Description

Tata or tiheru (canoe bailer) said to be made of rata wood. The long dish shaped bailer has decorative carvings at the top of the back end, a thick and curved cylindrical handle with a distinctive carved knob.

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