The tohu represents the lashed double barbed hook of Māui, mirrored in the stars above, and the earth below, as well as representing te kauwae runga, upper jaw, and kauwae raro, lower jaw – knowledge, both celestial and ancestral is derived from deities above and practical terrestrial knowledge applied below.

The aho, line, sweeps in an arc representing the continuous motion of the hook that never sleeps.

The form of the double barbed hook represents Hawke’s Bay and is a traditional design that was once produced and distributed from Waikawa, Portland Island, the northern barb of Te Matatu-a-Māui, with the southern barb being where the lashing is affixed at Te Kauwae-a-Māui, Cape Kidnappers.

Stories of the Pāua are central to Ngāti Kahungunu identity. The Pāua is said to have gained it’s irridescent colours from different deities, the hues of blues from the ocean of Tangaroa, sheens of green from the forests of Tāne, and a blink of pink from Hine Tiītama, goddess of the dawn sky.

Our imagery for the story of Māui traverses the cycle of day and night, reflecting the colours of the Pāua and the domains in which the story unfolds; Te Ātea-a-Rangi, the night sky, Te Taiao, our natural living world between sky and earth above water, and Te Taimoana, the water world.