Maori Fish Hooks
Paragraph A
Maori fish hooks, made from wood, bone, stone, and flax, are intended to have the best possible design and function. The hooks are designed to target specific species with precision. In the industry of commercial long-line fishing, there are some Maori hook designs that are making a splash.
Paragraph B
When Polynesians first came to New Zealand sometime within the years 1100-1300 AD, they didn't have the technology necessary to heat and manipulate metal out of rocks. Meanwhile, fish was the settlers' main food source at the time, so fishermen made their hooks and fishing gear out of wood, bone, stone, and shells. Other plants native to the island of New Zealand, such as flax (harakeke), cabbage tree (ti), and astelia (kiekie), provide the necessary fibrous material to make fishing lines and nets of greater or equal strength to the jute used by Europeans at the time. However, as a material, metal is more malleable and can be shaped in various ways, whereas natural materials are limited in the forms they can take. The Maori fish hooks needed to be more innovative in overcoming these limitations.
Paragraph C
Early accounts of Europeans who settled and explored New Zealand stated that Maori hooks, known as matau, were “odd,” “of doubtful ability,” “very clumsy affairs,” or “impossible looking.” Archaeologists from more recent times have also described the round hook as odd, with comments such as, “shaped in a manner which makes it very difficult to imagine could ever be effective in catching a fish.” William Anderson, who was aboard the Resolution during Cook's third voyage in 1777 as the ship's surgeon, remarked that the Maori “live chiefly by fishing, making use… of wooden fish hooks pointed with bone, but so oddly made that a stranger is at a loss to know how they can answer such a purpose.”
Paragraph D
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa conducted a study on Maori fish hooks 230 years later and demonstrated that the unique hook design was a matter of function. The hook's design allows it to catch fish by spinning away from the direction of the point and catching their jaws, instead of poking a hole through the fish or being used as a lever, as some archaeologists had suggested. It appears that the design of the Maori fish hook is perhaps the world's most efficient and masterfully designed, likely superior to any modern metal fish hook today.
Paragraph E
To make larger hooks, Maori used shanks made of strong wood, with stout points made of bone or shell. They tied tree branches and saplings together to grow them into ideal shapes for building, then harvested the plants when they reached the appropriate size. They hardened wood by carefully drying it and burying it underground with fires lit above. Human bone was often used for bone points, which were securely lashed to a groove at the end of the shank using pre-made flax materials (muka). When they wanted to catch larger species like sharks, groper, and ling, they used composite hooks. However, on average, the traditional hook was usually no longer than a three-finger breadth (128 mm in length).
Paragraph F
To capture seabirds for food and feathers, like albatross, the islanders use slender hooks that can be differentiated from other hooks intended for fish by their lighter build and lack of an inturned point. Many of these hooks were collected by early explorers, suggesting that seabird catching with hook and line was an important source of food and feathers for the Maori (105 mm in length). Slender hooks with wide gaps were used to capture albatross and other seabirds and can be distinguished from fish hooks by their lighter construction and absence of an inturned point. Early explorers collected many of these hooks, which could indicate that catching seabirds provided significant amounts of food and feathers for the Maori.
Paragraph G
The Maori quickly adopted new materials once they became available through European explorers, sealers, and whalers who began arriving towards the end of the 1700s. At this point, the Maori were still making their fish hooks but were now using metals and imported materials. Wooden and flax components of old, abandoned fish hooks decomposed quickly as traditional hooks were discarded in favor of new ones. Tools made of luxury materials such as ivory or greenstone may have been kept as decorative items, with stylized Maori fish hooks today serving as a symbol of cultural revitalization.
Paragraph H
The Maori continued to recreate traditional designs even as new materials became available, preferring hook shapes introduced by Pakeha in the 1800s. By maintaining the tradition of the rotating hook design, they remain connected to an essential part of their cultural heritage. In the end, however, mass-produced European metal hooks eventually dominated, making it difficult to continue crafting hooks from nails, horseshoes, and other metal objects. Eventually, traditional designs fell out of favor.
Paragraph I
By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tourist and collector demand for Maori artifacts had grown, leading manufacturers to produce large quantities of forged hooks. These replicas were then traded with both Maori and Europeans as forgeries of the real thing, sometimes directly commissioned by artifact dealers. Fake hooks can be identified by their cheap construction, inconsistent materials, rudimentary lashings, odd or overly elaborate decorative carvings, and the absence of in-turned points or angled grooves used to attach the fishing line properly.
Paragraph J
The evolution of matau throughout history symbolizes how the Maori have adapted to European tools, materials, and technology over time. It also reflects how European contributed influence to, rather than completely replaced, traditional Maori skills, as native materials were replaced or complemented by metals and, more recently, artificial materials. Today, commercial longline fishermen around the world have begun using the circle hook design—one that is nearly identical in appearance and function to the traditional matau. It appears that the advantages and improved catch rates of this Maori technology have once again been recognized.
Part 1
Questions 1-8
The reading passage has ten paragraphs labeled A-J. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-J.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1
Instruction on how to recognize authentic Maori hooks from counterfeit ones.
2
A description of a different type of hooks that are not used to catch fish.
3
An acknowledgment that Maori design and craftsmanship are still relevant in the modern world.
4
An investigation into how the hooks functioned so effectively.
5
A description of how modern technology began to dominate and eventually took over from traditional hook construction.
6
A list of raw materials used to construct hooks.
7
An outline of how different styles of hooks and types of materials were employed to catch larger fish.
8
An account of how the Maori employed new technology and adapted it.
Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
Write YES, NO or NOT GIVEN.
9
The early European settlers quickly understood how the Maori fish hook worked.
10
The hook works by making a hole and embedding itself in the mouth of the fish.
11
The Maoris catch seabirds with their feet.
12
There used to be a demand for Maori fish hooks and many counterfeit ones were produced.
13
Today European style hooks have completely replaced the traditional styles used by the Maoris.