Painted Hoe
by Steve Gibbs
The first peaceful meetings between Māori and Europeans took place in 1769, when James Cook landed in the Tairāwhiti region. During those meetings, Māori traded a number of painted hoe (paddles) for cloth, seeds, potatoes, and other items. The paddles are decorated with the earliest examples of what we now call kōwhaiwhai. They ended up in museums around the world. “Painted Hoe” describes those early meetings.
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