MT is standing under a Maori carving at Otari-Wilton Bush. This shows traditional Maori carving. The tiki represents the first created man of Maori mythology and represents ancestors or gods in sculptural art.
The name tiki (penis) is also applied to stone statues elsewhere in Polynesia. It is the name of a male demigod which appears often in Polynesian mythology and is unquestionably ancient. The symbology of Maori tiki has been much debated. They are thought of by some as fertility symbols, but strangely given their name, the detail of many of them shows female reproductive organs. One theory interprets detail on tiki as representing common birth deformities (club foot etc.) and suggests they are a talisman to protect against such things.
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