Tiki

The term tiki exists in the languages ​​of various peoples of Polynesia and originally means man or human, in some places the first human.

As Tiki are referred carved wooden or stone-carved ancestral figures that are equivalent in the ancestor cult of some South Sea cultures with figures of gods.

In the language of the Māori of New Zealand Tiki however, the term means the first man. So-called Hei -Tiki denote there small figures, often from pounamu ( greenstone, New Zealand jade, nephrite jade ) carved and are supported on a flat line as an amulet around the neck.

In the 50s and early 60s of the 20th century, the so-called Tiki culture reached its peak in the United States. It was a fad that took place in the design of countless art and everyday objects, such as cocktail cups, lamps, body jewelry, sculptures, etc., as well as in the residential building, bar, restaurant and hotel architecture input.

• Culture of the Māori
• Folk Art
• Polynesia