Female Tiki

This is perhaps a question aimed at those with an interest in the ethnographic
side of Tiki. Basically, I've just got hold of a statue, age unknown & about two
feet high of a female Tiki. It looks like it was at least modelled upon the classic
Cook Island fisherman Tiki, but has stylised breasts and an absence of the usual
'knob'. It could be pregnant, but then again the Cook Island Tikis have chubby
bellies anyway.

What I was wondering was how often are female forms actually carved in the
South Seas? Is this a real oddity? Or perhaps was someone just inspired by
Oceanic art to create something a bit different?

As usual, I've no photos to hand (must get a digital camera sometime), but it
was more the concept of female Tikis than the actual piece that I'm interested in.

Trader Woody

most of the statues of the hawaiian god "ku" apear to be female

Trader Woody,

I remember someone telling me something to the effect that one tiki god (or all tikis) can be or are both female and/or male.

Like certain Native Americans, it is considered a very wise being that can be both male and female and hence know both realms of the human gender(or I could just be having some sort of weird fantasy(?))

Yeah, Tiki Bong,

This whole male/female Tiki thing has confused me too. On one hand Tiki is a huge male virility symbol, but there's a whole bunch of seriously feminine stuff thrown into the mix as well. There just doesn't seem to be many Tiki's in any female form, which is kind of odd.

Trader Woody

I've just found another female Tiki carving (the one on the left), so perhaps these aren't that rare. Once again, she appears to be pregnant, so that begs the question, has anyone ever seen a female Tiki that wasn't pregnant?

Trader Woody

I remember from my trip in the marquesas that when the tikis were female, it was in fact the representation of a female that died while giving birth. The guide there told me that dying in that particular time was very chocking for them, as giving birth was the most important thing of their life.
So, this is why they wanted to honor a lot the women pregnant.

When I was on Easter Island, I was drawn to a chubby little carving of a dude with a bald head and a "third leg." I just assumed it was a male figure, but when I asked the carver about it, he said it was the (only?) female carving on the island - the "third leg" was not a phallus as I assumed but a loose representation of giving birth. it did not appear to be pregnant, but had a round-ish buddha belly.

Now, I really want one.

In an unrelated note (?) when I was at the Voodoo donuts in POrtland this weekend, there was an Easter Island carving of the kava kava hanging from the wall, a really nice (expensive!) one. I inquired and was told one of the owners just returned from easter island and brought it back (thus making the connection between Tiki Central and Voodoo Donuts even stronger!)

Finding a sexed tiki is a rarity in itself and most of the ones I have are cheaper ones carved in the Philippians (male only). I was on a quest for a female years ago and the only one I was able to locate is part of this set. The picture isn't the best but the only difference in these tikis is one has a prominent penis (testicles too) and the other has a carved indentation at the naughty bits.

[ Edited by: naugatiki on 2005-02-15 10:28 ]

Heres a female tiki I did on a lark years ago. I had only been carving about 2 years. Thats the guy who bought it standing there. He said he liked it better than his wife, i don't know about that, splinters an all, you know.

[ Edited by: Benzart on 2005-02-15 10:56 ]

Did he supply a photo of his wife as a model. That is a nice carving also Ben.

This image is of a Tongan Goddess that I pulled of the internet. I had Benzart carve this for me.

[ Edited by: tiki410 on 2005-02-15 12:31 ]

Ku (male or husband), and Hina (female or wife) were the rulers of the ancient people and are the earliest gods. They are great ancestral gods of earth and heaven who have general control over the bounty of earth and generations of mankind.

Hina represents the West, or the sun setting, which indicates evening. Hina means "leaning down."

Hina is also referred to as the Earth mother and as the sister of Ku or created out of the side of Ku (possibly a blend of Christian belief).

http://univartists.com/hawaii/tiki.htm

There is a wahine tiki lashed to the port hull on Hokule'a, the contemporary Hawaiian voyaging canoe.

http://www.pvs-awaii.com/canoe/canoe_building_deities.htm

Not all cultures are as gender obsessed as we (westerners)- in fact, some of the "original caretakers" of this great land didn't even have words for "man" or "women" other than to refer specifically to their sex, literally, i.e., penis or vagina, which they seldom did in conversation since to do so was considered irrelevant and obvious.

I bought female tiki that turned out to be a carving of Atua Fefina from Tonga. Her image represents the legend of Tongaloa coming down from the sky and mated with a Tongan women whose child became the first Tongan noble person.
tikiboy

tikiboy,

Is it possible to see a pic?