Abstract:
Here is an object of research, found in the archives: a piece of ‘data’, an ink-on-paper mark. It exists on the bottom right-hand side of a sturdy square of parchment. The intriguing drawing (Figure 5.1) represents the unique tā moko or facial tattoo of a Maori leader, Hongi Hika. The central whorls are the lines from either side of the bridge of Hongi Hika’s nose and the curved lines below frame his mouth — all shapes from the most sacred part of the body: the head. This ink-on-paper mark played a significant role in the earliest Indigenous-settler (Maori-Pakeha) relationships in Aotearoa-New Zealand. Hongi Hika drew his tā moko on 4 November 1819 on the second New Zealand land deed: 13,000 acres at Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, sold to the Church Missionary Society for 48 axes.
