Story: Te tāhere manu – bird catching
William Fox’s 1846 picture ‘In the Aglionby or Matukituki (Matakitaki) Valley, looking into the Otapawa (Matiri)’ shows the Māori guide Kehu snaring a weka. He holds a tari (slip noose on rod) and entices the weka with a decoy – a shorter stick with a bunch of feathers attached. Kehu imitated a bird call at the same time, so the weka would think the feathers were a bird. The method was successful, and was one of many used by Kehu to feed himself and the party he was guiding.
About this item
Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: B-113-008
Watercolour by William Fox
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.