Māori Hei-Tiki: Nephrite Pounamu Greenstone Pendant

The Ancestor in Stone

The hei-tiki — a neck pendant carved in pounamu (nephrite jade/greenstone) depicting a stylised human form — is the most culturally significant object in Māori material culture. Pounamu comes exclusively from the South Island of New Zealand (known as Te Wāhi Pounamu, "the place of greenstone"), and its acquisition, transport, and carving were activities of the highest social and spiritual importance.

A well-known hei-tiki could accumulate over centuries the mana (spiritual power) of all those who wore it — making it far more than jewellery; it was a portable ancestor, a link between the living and the dead. When given as a gift, the hei-tiki carried with it the mana of the giver; when inherited, it carried the mana of all previous wearers. The value of an ancient hei-tiki was thus inseparable from its history of ownership.

Carving Pounamu

Pounamu is extremely hard (6.5 on the Mohs scale) and must be carved using abrasive techniques — rubbing harder stone against it — rather than cutting. The process of carving a hei-tiki required months of patient work. The tilted-head posture of the figure has been interpreted as representing the process of creation, the moment of birth, or the posture of a foetal ancestor; it is the most distinctively Māori of all hei-tiki features, immediately distinguishing these pendants from all other jade-working traditions worldwide.