New Zealand, Aotearoa or the «White Cloud Country» for its former inhabitants, is a group of islands located in Oceania. It is a country that many of us have known through movies and novels. The tribes that inhabited it before the arrival of the British were Maori. This town has a different and special cultural legacy and among its peculiarities was the Mokomokai, the custom of preserving the heads of their ancestors.
Mokomokai. The custom of preserving the heads of your ancestors
One of the ancestral customs of the Maori tribes was tattooed of their faces. These ritual tattoos were known as Moko. In general, it was men who completely tattooed their faces and this was an indication of social status. High-ranking women could have tattoos on their chins or lips. Moko was a way to perpetuate contact with ancestors.
Each moko was unique and reflected both the lineage Like the Important events occurred in the life of the Maori who wore it on his face. When someone with moko passed away, his head was preserved. The «embalming» process was long: eyes and brain were removed, the holes were sealed and it was cooked in a steam oven, then smoked and dried in the sun to finally be treated with shark oil. They were only displayed in sacred ceremonies and the family kept them stored in special beautifully carved boxes.
Also preserved were the heads of enemy bosses killed in battle. These heads, after the conservation process, were displayed in the common house or «marae» for ridicule and ridicule. When it was sealed peace with the enemy tribe was common mokomokai exchange as a symbol of good will.
British sailors tried during the 18th century to buy these heads but the Maori were not willing to sell them. All this changed due to «Musket Wars» (Musket Wars) in which several Maori tribes clashed between them. During that conflict many of those heads came to the West since the warriors, to get weaponsthey sold the mokomokais of the enemy. The main buyers were English ethnographers, naturalists and collectors who acquired the mokomokais with a mixture of horror and fascination.
During this unfortunate period, the tribes stole each other’s mokomokais between them and they even came to tattoo heads of enemies or slaves with mokos that made no sense, to make fake mokomokai and get more money for weapons. In 1831, the governor of New South Wales banned the trade in mokomokais. A global campaign is currently underway to return to their families or to the museum ethnological of New Zealand all the mokomokais that are scattered around the world.
What do you think of this Maori custom? Would you have a human head in your house? If you want to know more curious customs in the world, you can read the post: The 6 strangest Asian customs.