Post #171901 by nuimaleko on Thu, Jul 14, 2005 1:46 AM

Yes that is Tiki, the first man, the ultimate ancestor figure.
I don't know how all carved representaions came to be called after him. (I beleive it must be some misunderstanding on the part of westerners. It is like us calling all carved representations Adam. Do you think modern Polynesians aspire to an Adam liftyle?)
I read that the jade Tiki image was rare until whalers expressed an interest in them as trade items and Moari sculptures started churning them out(so to speak,I know how hard greenstone is to carve)carving up their cerimonial adzes (as pictured also) to make them.
Since any carved representation is called a tiki (does not have to be a god)all of the sea animals and even the fish hooks can be correctly called tikis. The spiritual symbols, like the spirals, twists and discs must have a different Moari name.
I love the one of yours pictured.
The ones I own are the ones on the glass bottles. It allows me to display both my colored glass bottle and tiki collections at one time
Tikis need to be small to be worn practicly. As I wrote in the caption under my Maui Fish Hook. It is so big you could easily put your or someone elses eye out with it. LOL

[ Edited by: nuimaleko 2005-07-14 01:51 ]

[ Edited by: nuimaleko 2005-07-14 01:56 ]