kaleidoscope

Totara trees are so important to Maori (New Zealand indigenous people) and there is even a proverb that many tribes go by, ‘Kua hinga te totara i te wao nui a Tane’, This refers to how important the Totara is to the ngahere(forest) and Papatūānuku (Mother Earth) which the Maori people are connected to so heavily. This dead Totara tree is just one of many in this area and Maori use these massive trees to make their large waka, some of them could hold up to 100 warriors! They used the trunks of these trees because they grow straight, were big, light, and resistant to rot.