Wahaika Wero

My next wero is to create a wahaika.  I knew I wanted to replicate a wahaika patu that my bro had made for me as a koha to Pt England School when I left back in 2015.  I asked him to carve me something that I could leave behind as a taonga gifted to a student who showed leadership in Te Ao Māori.  So, he decided on a wahaika patu.  I named it in honour of my grandmother who was the matriarch of the whānau - Parehuia-manu-o-te-tau.  The wahaika i'll be working on will be named in honour of my grandfather, Hori Winiata Tito so it will be a 'matching' piece to the taonga created 5 years ago.  I just hope I can do it justice because the piece Johnny carved was ataahua.

I found another piece in the 'shed' at home and again, not sure of the wood.  I thought it was Kauri but as soon as I started carving it, I knew that it wasn't.  The grain was very different and the wood seemed to come away easier than that of kauri.  When I showed my bro, he seemed to think it was black Maire from one of his mates up in Waipoua. 

When I shared that knowledge with Kawiti, he was stumped because my piece wasn't heavy, (one of the characteristics of black Maire)  He later on found a piece in the workshop and showed me, and I knew too, my piece is NOT black maire.  When I told Johnny, he said there's some in the shed somewhere so I am super keen to go and find it.  Apparently it's a hard wood and it can make your whao blunt, but has a stunning grain and colouring <3

I really enjoy shaping pieces and am thankful for the grinder.  I slowly worked on the shape using the grinder but leaving plenty of room to finish using the whao.  I didn't want to 'over' grind the piece in case I took too much off.  I am always aware of taking too much off.

My first real challenge came when carving the manaia.  I chose a manaia for its significance of kaitiakitanga.  I had to get my head around the form and with advice from Kawiti I had to resort back to drawings.  It helped with the visualisation of what I could work towards, I could see it in my head and had to put it down on paper, that was tricky too.

My first task for the manaia after drawing it was to drill in some holes for the negative spaces.  I found it helpful in trying to keep the manaia in line on each side of the wahaika but then in saying that it was also a challenge keeping everything in line when shaping both sides.

 

I didn't mind chipping away slowly when shaping the manaia and it took me a long time to complete it.  The manaia isn't fully symmetrical:  the mouth is slightly slanted and the tinana is not quite the same on each side too.  The centre line is super important and I need to draw it straight back on if I take it off with a whao (VERY important lesson) and it pays to keep taking the piece out of the vice often to keep the balance as accurate as possible.  I then cut out the paua laminate for the eyes and tail of the manaia.

 

Once the manaia was completed I knew my next challenge would be the tingongi.  Again I resorted to drawing to give myself an idea of how I wanted it to look.  The tingongi on this piece represents tupuna.  I drew the unaunahi on the design because ultimately, that's what I want on the piece.  In reflection, I wasn't ready (equiped with the skills) to put whakarei on the wahaika (not to say that it will NEVER have whakarei on it, that is the ultimate goal)

The tingongi took as much time as the manaia to try and get right.  I see there is a slight tilt of the tingongi when looking front on.  I know where I went wrong and it was from not redrawing the centre line once I had taken it out with the chisel while shaping.  It's a constant taking out of the vice/jaws to try and keep things symmetrical.  Thankful for the superjaws (especially after screwing blocks in the feet so I wasn't bending over my mahi)

Finishing touches:  Once I had competed the manaia and tinongi I glued in the paua laminate using wood glue.  It was left overnight to dry and then I brushed on some danish oil.  I got a headache afterwards too because I should have worn my proper mask with filters.  A GOOD reminder about safety.  I then prepared the muka and feathers, sorting through my kūkupa collection for right colours, size and shape.  I bound a few using wax cord and then tied them to the muka.  I use Kūkupa feathers because of their significance to our whānau (Tito) and whakapapa.

A completed taonga in honour of Hori Winiata Tito.  A wero I thoroughly enjoyed and love the piece for all the learning and for what it represents.

Things to improve on: 

Starting to focus on gaining skill in whakarei because at the moment my pieces are 'naked' and would really benefit from the beauty that whakarei have to offer in both visual context and that of adding 'meaning'/korero to pieces.  In particular pākati, unaunahi and haehae - I would like to come back at some stage and add whakarei to the tingongi.

I learnt afterwards from Korotangi about how to size up pieces and how to measure using non-standard units ie: fingertips to inner elbow, palm, shaka etc.  He also talked about how the wahaika would have been used to disembowel opponents.  He also spoke about the meaning of 'wahaika' mouth of a fish and the hook shape where it would bite into kidneys.

Instead of just picking up a block of wood and shaping it, next time it would be nice to try and design something with the grain in mind, utilising the grain to strengthen, enhance a piece rather than just for the sake of doing a piece.  I acknowledge that I'm at a stage where I'm utilising rākau to gain experience but would like to put more thought into the grain and type of rākau suitable for the pieces.