Toki Pounamu

Size: 23.5 cm at highest point x 28 cm long x 4.5cm wide

Made in from sustainably harvested tulip wood and British Columbian Greenstone

The toki is an adze used for carving and construction. The more elaborate ones were ceremonial and often had a greenstone (pounamu) blade.

Ceremonial toki was mainly used for the first and last cuts in construction of meeting houses and war canoes.

The head on the end of the handle represents a guardian figure that is always watching the back of the rightful owner. The principal figure traditionally represents an ancestor figure.