Help w/ researching traditional/ authentic tiki designs

Am looking to start carving soon and was hoping someone could help me out with my research on authentic/ traditional tiki designs. Any links to web pages (w/ pictures?), book titles, anything would be great.

Mahalo,

Taco Loco

Welcome to TC!

I find the google image search can be really helpful.

I also have a really good book on traditional tiki stuff called "Oceanic Arts" (no relation to the film/bar/prop suppliers). I think it might be printed by Taschen (?)

Check out this website too
http://www.southpacificart.com/
and

http://www.oceanicarts.com/index.htm

I've always thought this could be a good Idea for a thread.
Pictures of traditional carving styles to be used as reference for everyone on here.
Many times I've wanted to carve a certain style but aren't sure how certain parts look.
Whether we just lump everything in together and you just scroll down to find the style that you want. Or have a breif description eg. Name,place of origin, god of...? whith each picture(s), but keep the thread free just for reference without discussion.
If anyone else thinks this is a good idea I'll start a thread

These aren't strictly traditional but they do allow a nice comparison on styles...http://www.philtotem.com/book.php?31,51 Plus, this guy's stuff is flat out awesome.

This is a fabulous idea. Let's do it. Getting really into authentic works myself lately. Great educational oppurtunity for all of us.

Right now, I'm exploring the books by Terence Barrow. Barrow does a nice job showing some hard to find pics, at least in the 2 books I have. Not as many photographs as Meyer's "Oceanic Arts". However, the books are very specialized and includes old fashioned engravings of historical times, which I think is a good thing. Will give a review and post some pics after I do some reading.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=14409&forum=5

Yes, a wonderful post idea! We were just discussing last night while at the Lucky Tiki that many of the elements that would be present in a tiki art curriculum one might find at a good art school are here -- lots of how-to with the technique and the wood you can use -- but the big piece that's often missing is the art history, a look back at the tiki masters of the past, and what their influences were. Naturally, it all goes back to actual Oceanic Art.

If you haven't already, do buy Meyer's Oceanic Art book.

Oceanic Art on Amazon

Wow, wasn't expecting all this interest in my research. Thanks everybody. Have tried GOOGLE image search and have certainly found ton's of great City of Refuge tiki pics and moai pics. Was hoping that somewhere there are pics of tikis representing the "major" hawaiian/ polynesian gods.

Mahalo,

Taco

Here Is a link to the definitive Hawaiian Tiki book.

University Of Hawaii Press

Hawaiian Sculpture documents most known extant indigenous carvings of the human figure and identifies their location in public and private collections. The over 164 illustrations illuminate the wooden sculpture of artists whose names are unknown but who were brilliant by any standard.

Thought I'd resurrect this post... I'd like to learn the basics of the differing styles. I ordered Oceanic Arts.,.. (hasn't arrived yet). Any web resources out there or other threads that give info?

Yes, this Is an interesting thread. I think it would be an Excellent idea to have a thread showing historical images of original tikis along with their names.
Every carver adds his own influence and it is difficult to say exactly What makes up a Ku or a Lono. It would be an Excellent reference for new as well as Old carvers. Lets DO IT!

Here's a great website with descriptions of the gods and lots of other artifacts & info on the ancient Hawaiians. It's called Hawaiian Hall.

*Name: Lono
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, LONO was a god of peace, sports, agriculture, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices.

In the esoteric tradition LONO represented the mental consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "conscious mind." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this LONO figure the hair is piled high on top and does not extend all the way to the ground. This symbolizes imagination and abstract thinking, which is not necessarily based on direct physical experience.

Name: Ku
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KU was a god of war, virility, masculinity, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices.

In the esoteric tradition KU represented the body consciousness, or what in modern terms could be called the "subconscious." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KU figure the hair is short on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolized memory thinking, which is based on direct physical experience.

Kanaloa

Name: Kanaloa
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KANALOA was a god of the ocean, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices. In legend he was a companion to KANE, the creator god. As such he also had the ability to cause freshwater springs to gush forth from solid rock when he struck it with his staff.

In the esoteric tradition KANALOA represented a state of total confidence, or what in modern terms could be called "inner authority." In Hawaiian culture, hair is a symbol of thought. On this KANALOA figure the hair is piled high on top and extends all the way to the ground. This symbolizes the integration of imagination and memory, or the integration of body, mind and spirit.*

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A-A

I've actually enjoyed using Night of the Tiki for some ideas. It's a great book, with nice big pictures, and was reasonably priced. I'm glad I looked at this thread though, cause I'm definitely putting the Oceanic Arts book on my Amazon wish list (hinting that the wife should buy it for my upcoming birthday or something....)

Akua, Lono & Ku:

http://www.tikimaster.com/c=hFLJoPm8ze8lNjpWzq23ApDoS/product/CTRIOTIKI

and here:

http://www.thegraphicdetails.com/tikis/flipinfo2.html

[ Edited by: christiki295 2005-09-16 22:06 ]

"Akua" is a generic hawaiian term for "tiki god". I'm not sure why tikmaster is using the name "Tiki Akua" for one of its statues.

Anyway, here's the best essay I could find on the Hawaiian Gods and their stories. The only ones that I've found definitive authentic images of are "Ku","Lono", and "Kanaloa". If anyone can find and post authentic images of any of te others, that would be great.

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This webpage can be found here.

*"IN THE BEGINNING
HAWAIIAN GODS
By Betty Fullard-Leo
Photos by Les Drent

In the beginning in Hawaiian mythology, Po was a vast, empty land, a dark abyss where only one life form dwelled. This was the spirit of Keawe. A single light shown through the darkness of Po-a flame holding the energy of creation.

In this chaotic vortex, Keawe evolved order. He opened his great calabash and flung the lid into the air. As it unfolded, it became the huge canopy of blue sky. From his calabash, Keawe drew an orange disk, hanging it from the sky to become the sun.

Next Keawe manifested himself as Na Wahine, a female divinity considered his daughter. In addition, he became Kane, his own son, also known as Eli or Eli-Eli, who was the male generative force of creation. In the Kumulipo, the best known of the Hawaiian creation chants, the feats of Eli-Eli are detailed in rhythmic litany.

Na Wahine and Kane mated spiritually to produce a royal family, who became additional primary gods worshipped by the Hawaiian people. In ancient chants and rituals, three sons: Ku, Lono, and Kanaloa, along with Kane are the four major Hawaiian gods. Keawe made Kane the ruler of natural phenomena, such as the earth, stones, fresh water. Most importantly, Ku as Kukailimoku was god of war, but he also reigned over woodlands and crops, and in various forms was worshipped by craftsmen. Bird catchers and feather workers appealed to Kuhuluhulumanu, fishermen to Ku'ula, sorcerers to Kukoae, for example.

Kanaloa was responsible for the southern Pacific Ocean and as such was god of seamen and lord of fishermen. Lono, as lord of the sun and of wisdom, caused the earth to grow green. As a god of medicine, he had a particular interest in keeping herbs and medicinal plants flourishing. Lono was the god who presided over the makahiki season when war ceased and taxes were paid to the ali'i.

Kane and Na Wahine also had daughters. Among them, Laka was the goddess of hula; Hina was the mother of Maui who pulled the Hawaiian Islands from the ocean; and Kapo was the goddess of the South Pacific and was largely worshipped on Maui. Among the major divinities was the goddess Papa, queen of nature, and the man she married, called Wakea. In legend, Papa and Wakea's first child was born deformed like a taro root. From the child's grave, the first taro plant grew to furnish sustenance to the rest of the human race, which had its origins in this first couple.

The twelfth deity was Milu, lord of the spirit world and lord of Ka-pa'a-he'o, where souls who had departed their sleeping or unconscious mortal body might end up if they were not pardoned by their 'aumakua (personal gods) during their wanderings. One of several entrances to the barren, arid land of Milu was thought to be through a pit situated in the mouth of Waipi'o Valley on the Big Island.

Each man worshipped a deity, or akua, that represented his profession. Gods existed for bird snarers, canoe makers, robbers, kapa makers, fishermen, etc. Most farmers revered Lono, who was considered a benign god. When crops ripened, farmers performed religious services to the gods by building a fire to honor whichever god they worshipped, be it Ku, Kane, Lono, or Kanaloa. During the ceremony, food was cooked and portioned out to each man who sat in a circle around an idol of that particular god. A kahuna offered the food to heaven. After the ceremony was completed, the people could eat freely of the cooked food, but each time new food was cooked in the imu (underground oven), a bit of it had to be offered to the god again before the common man could eat.

Interestingly, kanaka maoli, commoners, could freely worship their personal gods, voicing their own prayers. For the ali'i (royalty), however, a kahu-akua, who was a priest or keeper of the idol, uttered the prayer. The king was the only one allowed to command the construction of a luakini (sacrificial) heiau to honor Kukailimoku, the war god, which required sacrificial offerings of human life during its construction. Lesser chiefs could build mapele, stone temples, to invoke the blessing of gods like Lono who could insure abundant crops. These temples were surrounded with posts carved with images, while inside idols carved of wood, stone or sea urchin spines, or fashioned of feathers attached to woven i'e i'e netting represented various gods. Oracle towers that jutted 20 feet into the sky held offerings made to the gods on wooden platforms far above the ground.

The old gods were disavowed just prior to the coming of Christian missionaries in 1820. Temple idols were pushed over and destroyed, but often commoners were faced with the problem of what to do with stone images that represented various gods, since neglect of the idols might cause unknown disasters. One stone god literally re-surfaced in 1885. An old man who lived with his son and a brother and sister near a fish pond in Kawaihae on the Big Island, woke them all one night, commanding his son to catch three fish from the pond. The girl was told to chew a mouthful of awa and her brother was told to climb a tree for coconuts. The old man directed them to dig in a certain place, where they uncovered a stone idol. The old man circled the idol's neck with coconuts, laid the fish in front of it and poured the awa over its mouth. He told the three young people the god's name was Kane; then he predicted his own death. In three days he was gone.

The stone idol is now displayed at Bishop Museum on O'ahu, an intriguing reminder of the mana, the power, the Hawaiian gods once embodied. Today, though the gods may have disappeared from every day life, in many Hawaiian households, they will never be completely forgotten.

Note: Varying legends and oral histories exist regarding Hawaiian gods and religions. Information for this article was gathered from: Children of the Rainbow by Leinani Melville, Hawaiian Antiquities by David Malo, The Works of the People of Old by Samual Kamakau, and Arts and Crafts of Hawai'i (Religion) by Peter H. Buck."*

hey Taco Loco: thanks for the cool post!

and hewey, thanks for those links; i just found inspiration for my next carving!

I have done some looking and managed to find some good books on some of the authentic styles...

Of course Oceanic Art is filed with stuff.

Hawaiian Sculpture, by J Halley Cox and William Davenport, has lots of good info and pics of original Hawaiian carvings.

Adorning the World, Art of the Marquesas Islands by Erik Kjellgren has lots of good info on original Marquesan carvings. It showcases the collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Just got Maori Carving Illustrated by W J Phillipps, which has lots of good pics and drawings of Maori carvings. Ordered some other Maori carving books from some bookstore in NZ... will list them when they arrive.

Each of these has info on the origins and types of carvings specific to the particular island, some interesting reading as well as lots of visual examples.

Along with what has been listed, I found a few others.

The Art of Maori Carving by Sidney Mead (EXCELLENT BOOK) it's out of print and kinda hard to find. Actually has a Tutorial on carving.

An Illustrated Guide to Maori Art, by Terrance Barrow. Another good one, has tons of pics and history.

Maori Art and Culture, by D.C. Starzecka Good book for pics and info on the Maori Culture

I have a few more coming in will post when i see them.

Hi, Taco...a good jumping off point is Sven Kirsten's "The Book Of Tiki", because it shows the work of many of the pioneers(Not quite all, but many) who created the Polynesian Pop style. And as Humu pointed out Anthony J.P. Meyer's Oceanic Art is an excellent reference for the Pacific Rim art from which it sprang. You can also find loads of great imagery and research in the vintage tiki postcards...there is a thread visible now on General Tiki here, and always more than a few pretty neat ones available on E-bay. Also try googling Oceanic Art or Pacific Rim Art.

Also, check out Purple Jade's website, purplejadetiki . She is through osmosis and actual production fast becoming an authority on Pacific Rim art (and it shows in her site), and has probably done more styles than any of us.

Just got another one in.

Carved Histories by Roger Neich
All about the Maori carving histories of Rotura,Ngati,and the Tarawhai. Just got it today and have only browsed through the 100's of pictures. Looks like an interesting history lesson on the Maori. 424 pages $69.95.

Just got The Art of Maori Carving by Mead. Awesome! First several chapters are on the history and different styles of the different tribes, and then the last section has a step by step on carving a Maori style head.

Also.. Maori Arts of the Gods by Deidre Brown, and Maori Art, the Photography of Brian Brake. These two are more coffee table books, but they have great pics!

I got the three from Reed Publishing in NZ. Shipping cost a lot but well worth it!

Kanaloa

Name: Kanaloa
Origin: Hawaiian Islands
Artist: Unknown
Description: In ancient Hawaiian religion, KANALOA was a god of the ocean, and certain types of healing, crafts and other cultural practices. In legend he was a companion to KANE, the creator god. As such he also had the ability to cause freshwater springs to gush forth from solid rock when he struck it with his staff.

So what does Kane look like, anyway? Has anyone found any images? I've been searching Google, but have been unable to find any images of Kane or any good site that gives detailed info on the major Hawaiian gods. Some sites even disagree as to what Lono looks like....

I did a carving based upon a Hawaiian image that was referenced as being Kane. Everyone said,"Hey, that's a great Lono!" Now I show everyone my great carving of Lono.

Couple Hawaiians with descriptions here:
http://www.friendlyisleswc.com/carvings2.html

On 2006-05-16 12:24, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:
Couple Hawaiians with descriptions here:
http://www.friendlyisleswc.com/carvings2.html

huhaaaa!
that's exactly what they look like!

Urgent help needed, please.

I'm searching for some visual reference or description for the hawaiian God Milu [god of the dead], who hung out in lua-a-milu [land of the dead]. I'd prefer something traditional if poss. Soz but the marqueses version Muri [as I understand] won't quite fit my need.

I've checked out TC and found a couple of good text mentions, but am looking for something pictoral or carved.

Checked my reference books with no luck and the electronic interweb doesn't offer much image wise either.

Hope you can help out.

tikiracer- Curious about your post so i did a little digging.. I don't claim to know anything about the topic tho.

Maybe you found this already but it looks like Kanaloa became Milu. It also appears that Manua is considered the original God of the underworld.

This link doesn't have pictures but has some descriptors of Kanaloa's appearance:
http://www.bluecoast.org/nonprofit/kanaloa/k47.html

He was known as the Great Octopus, God of the Squids (Kahe'ehaunawela), and Great White Albatross. (This could be an interesting depiction creatively speaking.)

Another source did show this image also posted in this thread- don't know the accuracy..

Kanaloa

Here is an interesting bit describing Kanaloa and Manua:
Milu is said to have been a chief on earth who, on account of disobedience to the gods, was swept down into the underworld at death and became its ruler. Both Kahakaloa on Maui and Waipio on Hawaii claim him as chief; Kupihea says that the Kahakaloa story is the older and the Waipio Milu story is patterned after it. According to the Waipio story, Wakea in his old age retired to Hawaii and lived at Waipio, and at his death he descended to the "Island-bearing land" (Papa-hanau-moku) beneath the earth and founded a kingdom there. Milu succeeded him as chief in Waipio and after Milu's death, due to disregard of the tapu set upon him by the god, Milu became associated with Wakea in the rule of the underworld. In the Kumu-honua legend Milu sets himself up against Kane and is thrust down with his followers "to the uttermost depths of night" (i lalo lilo loa i ka po). The name of Kanaloa is sometimes associated with this opposition to Kane and the quarrel said to be because awa was refused to Kanaloa and his followers. Others call Manua the original lord of the underworld of the dead. Manua is said to be brother to Wakea and Uli and is spoken of in the chant of Nu‘u as "the mischief maker."

Hope this helps somehow.. Good luck.

Awesome, thanks.

I'd not made the connection with kanaloa, and his mythos works really well with what I'm looking for.

Speedy service too.

thanks I have been trying to find out which is which myself.

I was also thinking of getting myself a tiki tattoo but knowing which is which from the below images isn't so easy.

http://www.tattoojohnny.com/tattoo-design-gallery.asp?k=tiki+gods

can anyone help please?

thanks

Fae

This thread was packed with great tips on books!