Feeding funnels

Strictly observed tapu restrictions were applied to a range of activities on the islands of the eastern Pacific. Tattooing was one of these.


Tattooing implements were treasured items and specially carved bone blades attached to wooden handles were used. Tattooing pots, which held a mixture of soot and oil used as ink, were heirlooms and used to tattoo family members from one generation to the next.

However, tattooing was seen as a spiritual and dangerous procedure. Like carving the practice of cutting the skin was considered to imitate the actions of the gods as they created the world. Therefore, the process embodied godly power and required many tapu restrictions.

Everyday things like cooked food neutralised the power of the gods. For example in New Zealand, tattooists were not allowed to touch it, even as they ate it. Feeding funnels (korere) like these were used to deliver food straight into the mouths of tattooists, meaning they did not have to touch it.

Feeding funnels were also used in other ritual procedures governed by tapu restrictions. Made from wood and haliotis shell, these particular examples date from the early nineteenth century.