Karyn Owen, Museum Manager, Te Hikoi Museum
The selected toki (Māori adzes) in this set are significant examples from the Te Hikoi Museum collection. These provide insight into the process of creating toki and the tools and materials used.
These taonga are some of over 350 toki in the Te Hikoi collection. They range in size, stone type and source; covering all stages of manufacture from rough pre forms to ground, finished tools. Toki were bound to a kakau roa (wooden handle) and used for woodworking such as waka building, tree felling, hollowing out items, and squaring off planks. Whao (chisels) were used for finer work.
These two links share more background and show how toki were made.
