Tohunga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).
Detail from the carved ridgepole of a house, Ngāti Awa, circa 1840.
Detail from the carved ridgepole of a house, Ngāti Awa, circa 1840.

In the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, religious or otherwise. Tohunga may include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, builders, teachers and advisors. The equivalent term in Hawaiian culture is kahuna.

[edit] Terminology

There were many classes of tohunga (Buck 1974:474), including:

  • Tohunga ahurewa: highest class of priest
  • Tohunga kiato: lowest class of priest
  • Tohunga matakite: foretellers of the future
  • Tohunga whakairo: expert carvers
  • Tohunga tātai arorangi: experts at reading the stars
  • Tohunga tārai waka: expert canoe builders

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • T. R. Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck), The Coming of the Maori. Second Edition. First Published 1949. Wellington: Whitcombe and Tombs) 1974.
 This article related to the Māori people of New Zealand is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../t/o/h/Tohunga.html"
In other languages