Te ririko

human history

Te ririko. Neck ornament of porpoise teeth. It is made of two material components: wiin te kua kewe (porpoise teeth) and te kora (coconut sennit fibre cordage). A braided cord makes up the neck band. The ends of the braided cord are loose and short in selvedge. Each strand of the plaited braid has been utilized to thread a single wiin te kua kewe and then intertwined to perceive a double layered look. The wiin te kua kewe on this Neck ornament are quite large in size. The roots of the teeth are matte and pale brown, off-white in colour. The exposed ends of the teeth are more off-white in colour and polished. They are double layered along the neck band. Small perforations have been made with a shark toothed pump drill into the roots of the teeth for te kora to be threaded through. This type of neck ornament can be worn by either men or women at any time.

Accession number: 1940.3 Last Update: 30 Nov 2018
Other Name

Neck ornament of porpoise teeth (English)

Accession Number

1940.3

Accession Date

1940

Other Id

25197.1 (ethnology)

Department

Pacific

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