Cleveley painting
Gallery 3 - European and American Arts
Handcrafted by master carvers, Waka Huia were created to hold the taonga - treasures - of high-ranking Māori chiefs in New Zealand. The elaborate carvings have deep spiritual significance, and Waka Hui are considered living ancestors today rather than merely objects of art or artifacts. The taonga most associated with the Waka Huia were the feathers of the extinct Huia bird, which are now the most valuable in the world.
Waikoloa Museum Walkway's piece
This beautifully carved example is one of only an estimated 420 Waka Huia preserved in museums around the world, making it one of the rarest and most culturally significant pieces in the Waikoloa Museum Walkway.
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The extinct Huia bird
THE STORY
By the turn of the 20th Century, the Huia bird, never found in large numbers in New Zealand's forests, was on the brink of extinction. Its habitat was being crowded by humans and invasive predators took a heavy toll on the few birds that remained by 1900. The species' plight was exaggerated by the birds' dimorphism - physical or behavioral differences between males and females of the same species beyond their reproductive organs. The short, sharp beak of the male, used to break open wood, and the female's long, curved bill, needed to reach the insects and larvae inside, meant the two had to work together to survive. By 1909, the last of the Huia birds was gone.
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