Maori Mailbox. Omahu. Hawkes Bay. New Zealand.
S 39° 34.945 E 176° 45.740
60H E 479589 N 5618561
A wonderfully handcarved mailbox on the main highway through Omahu features a Maori warrior and a miniature example of a carved Maori meeting house.
Waymark Code: WMA34Z
Location: North Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 11/08/2010
Views: 2
The wooden mailbox has a Maori theme, a carved Maori warrior supports a meeting house with traditional Maori carvings. The warrior has an elaborate facial tattoo, or moko, and is wearing a piupiu, a traditional skirt usually made from flax.
The carved meeting house has been very accurately handcrafted as every part of the carvings has a particular meaning for Maori.
This carved meeting house (whare runanga) was usually named after an important ancestor and, in most parts of the country, was a symbol of that ancestor. The front of a carved house has at the apex of the gable a large carved head with no part of the body visible. This head is known as the koruru or parata.The arms of the koruru are the maihi or sloping bargeboards.
At the lower ends of the maihi, which project beyond the upright figures (amo) on each side of the front of the house, is an open-work design with three, four, or five ribs running parallel to one another. Usually there is a manaia head between the ribs and the amo. The ribs are fingers, and they and the manaia represent the hands of the ancestor.
The Maori mailbox is situated on Korokipo Road at Omahu near the crossroads.
Date of visit: 09/27/2010
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