Treasure box (waka huia)

Chiefs used containers such as this to store personal property and valuable family heirlooms, among them nephrite pendants, ear ornaments, and bone combs. Often referred to as feather boxes, the receptacles also held the black-and-white tail feathers of the huia bird (Heteralocha acutirostris), which served as hair decoration emblematic of high rank. Since the boxes hung from the rafters in chiefs' houses, their undersides were visible and were usually as elaborate as the lids. An owner could pass the box down as a family heirloom or give it as an honored gift to someone special. The object sometimes also received its own name. As personal possessions of chiefs, the container and its contents became imbued with tapu. Three types of treasure boxes have been distinguished; this example is a wakahuia, more frequent in central and eastern North Island. All surfaces of the oblong container and its detachable lid are embellished with raised reliefs of double spirals and intertwined pattern called unaunahi. Projecting from each end is a carved figure with a schematic body, aggressive features, and shell eyes. This box was collected about 1864-66 at a time when Maori relief carving became increasingly elaborate.