Tiki, teeth, and tongue

One of the first things I noticed in comparing Hawaiian tiki mugs and NZ Maori tikis is that Maori tikis have tongues. Members are probably aware of the Maori haka, the war dance in which facial expressions using eyes and tongues are used to induce fear in opponents. In Hawaiian tikis especially those depicting Ku, the teeth are used to frightening effect and the tongue is noticeably absent. In Rarotongan statues, notably depictions of Tangaroa, the mouth appears to be closed, showing neither teeth nor tongue, but a large penis is used to invoke awe. I am less familiar with the carvings of other Polynesian groups but was surprised recently to see a wooden carving of what looked very like the depictions of Ku on tiki mugs but with the word Tonga included in the carving.
I'm curious to know what place the tongue plays in traditional Hawaiian carving as I have seen tiki mugs with tongues that are not NZ Maori tikis: is this traditional or a recent development?

Depends on what kind of Hawaiian carving you're talking about. Older traditional vs. Newer Tongan style.

OG Hawaiian did have tongues. Check these:

Rarotongan/Tangoroa are typically laid out as such:

4 lines make the mouth
5 lines make the eyes

The round "pregnant" stomach with the navel is a female fertility deal, based in folklore and such that has an emergence origin myth. That's coupled with the penis, the prevalent male symbol of fertility, vitality, etc.

It can be argued that the main difference in carving philosophies between the Hawaiian and rartongan is as follows: rarotongan are more surface decorative based, while Hawaiian relies on emphasis of volume. That would explain the lack of tongue features on the Rarotongan type figural carvings.

And you cannot draw ANY conclusions about traditional Polynesian carvings style based on what you see done on today's mugs. It's a no rules anything goes thing the mug makers got going on now.

Buzzy Out!