page_title: Wahaika
hierarchical_section_title: Wahaika
caption_attribution_description: English: Three wahaika (hand weapon), two made from wood, and the one on the right made from whalebone. Photographed in Te Papa, Museum of New Zealand in Wellington.
context_page_description: A Wahaika is a type of traditional Māori hand weapon. Wahaika are short club-like weapons usually made of wood or whalebone and are used for thrusting and striking in close-quarter, hand-to-hand fighting. Whalebone wahaika are called wahaika parāoa.
  Wahaika translates to "mouth of the fish", in reference to the notch on one side which is used to catch an opponent's weapon. On the other side just above the handle the concave tip above a carved humanoid figure is the primary striking edge, particularly used against the opponent's temples, face, and ribs. The rest of the spherical edge is sharp like a blade.
  Wooden wahaika are often carved with intricate designs. In addition to being a fighting weapon, rangatira would hold wahaika during ceremonies and speeches, especially if they wanted people to pay attention to something important. Special wahaika would only be gifted to people with considerable ranking in the Māori tribal structure.
context_section_description: A Wahaika is a type of traditional Māori hand weapon. Wahaika are short club-like weapons usually made of wood or whalebone and are used for thrusting and striking in close-quarter, hand-to-hand fighting. Whalebone wahaika are called wahaika parāoa.
  Wahaika translates to "mouth of the fish", in reference to the notch on one side which is used to catch an opponent's weapon. On the other side just above the handle the concave tip above a carved humanoid figure is the primary striking edge, particularly used against the opponent's temples, face, and ribs. The rest of the spherical edge is sharp like a blade.
  Wooden wahaika are often carved with intricate designs. In addition to being a fighting weapon, rangatira would hold wahaika during ceremonies and speeches, especially if they wanted people to pay attention to something important. Special wahaika would only be gifted to people with considerable ranking in the Māori tribal structure.
caption: Two wooden and one whalebone wahaika in Te Papa Museum.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4608", "Image ImageLength": "2592", "Image Make": "SAMSUNG", "Image Model": "SM-C101", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "C101ZSUAML1", "Image DateTime": "2014:03:13 11:55:17", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "234", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "S", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[41, 17, 26]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[174, 46, 55]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "1", "GPS GPSAltitude": "0", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[22, 55, 9]", "GPS GPSProcessingMethod": "[65, 83, 67, 73, 73, 0, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSDate": "2014:03:12", "Image GPSInfo": "21316", "Thumbnail ImageWidth": "224", "Thumbnail ImageLength": "126", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "21672", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "11330", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/30", "EXIF FNumber": "31/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:03:13 11:55:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:03:13 11:55:17", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "49/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "163/50", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "277/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "163/50", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "43/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "24", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF ImageUniqueID": "FCGK01"}