Mataaora and Niwareka - Paper Print

Mataora was a paramount chief of the physical world. He fell in love and married the beautiful Niwareka, a princess from the spiritual realm. Their story is one of love but also of his jealousy and abuse of her. Of his regret and his pursuit of her to the spirit world. It is a story of his changing attitudes and perspectives, and of course, the discovery of Moko.

Mataora did not just find Moko in the spiritual world, he also found a new more peaceful way of being. A way of being that he liked and wanted to be and was integral to Moko. So, on their return, Mataora and Niwareka established Moko in the physical world, where it grew and flourished. When our ancestors came here from the Pacific, Moko was one of the many possessions that they brought with them. It was etched into their bodies.