Maori Carving was used to record the ancestors

Although the Maori had carvings long before coming to Aotearoa New Zealand, the work was different. The art of carving changed dramatically when Maori arrived here - the trees were so large and with different characteristics. The creativity possible - due to the new and wider varieties of wood available - was explosive.

The unique style of carving that developed and is only found here reflects the history, culture and the resources unique to New Zealand.

Over time, iwi (tribes) began to have their special designs, reflecting their unique stories, histories, environs and lifestyles, although there were similarities and, in many cases, the same names for designs. The Maori carvers also worked to tell the legends and stories of creatures as diverse as taniwha, whales, squid, dolphins, orcas, eels, stingray, lizards, the birds and even stones.

The carvers adapted to the new materials in the new land, but have always kept the history of the people, especially the whakapapa (ancestral lineage), true to this day.

The essential whakapapa histories were primarily recorded in the carvings on and in the wharenui (meeting houses) of the people, as well as on the waka (canoes) and other buildings and dwellings. Carving featured also on the weapons, storage containers, walking sticks, day to day implements and tools, as well as jewellery used in the daily and ceremonial lives of the people.

Carvers had a special place within traditional Maori community life and were charged with the responsibility of passing on their knowledge, with the karakia (prayers) and processes that would maintain the knowledge and heritage uniquely associated with the carver's role from Master to student, within the context of kaitiakitanga (stewardship and guardianship of the life sustaining capacity or mauri of the land, the sea, the forest and the people.) The cultural significance of many carving projects meant that Maori carvers spent considerable periods of time when they were themselves regarded as tapu or sacred.

In some cases, carvers also sculpted in or carved in stone, which was also not a new material to the Maori, and there was the highly valued work in pounamu and ivory whales tooth.

For contemporary carvers, drawing both from the traditions of Maori carving and other creative visions in their contemporary styles of work, the range of opportunities in materials and tools has grown further with woods as well as manufactured "timber products", bronze, pounamu (greenstone), stone, tooth and bone now available and new stories to tell and explore.

However, the traditions, the designs of particular iwi and the whakapapa remain an essential essence to the Maori carver in his own work and the essential training of the next generation of carvers.

Maori carving has travelled the world in major touring exhibitions such as the ancient carvings I accompanied on tour to China and the Te Maori exhibition that toured in the USA.

Carvings have also left New Zealand as gifts and collectable artworks. My own work is now spread to places as diverse as Australia, Papua New Guinea, Canada, New York, China, Russia and to the United Kingdom, where I am honoured that my work has been gifted to the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Some traditional Maori carvings have left Aotearoa in less satisfactory or appropriate circumstances.

Carvings are regarded as taonga (treasures) and are sacred to the Maori people. The cultural significance, especially the whakapapa and heritage focus inherent in the carvings, makes the return of these and other sacred taonga an ongoing concern for Maori to this day.

Maori carving continues to thrive in Aotearoa, both in its traditional cultural context for the Maori people, and through more contemporary directions and focus. As an art form and an essential sacred form of cultural expression, it continues to evolve as part of a living culture and to reflect the continuing whakapapa and stories of the Maori people.