TIKANGA

= Maori String Games  =
 * ha ka ma ||  ||
 * [|String Games] ||  ||
 * [|String games 2] ||  ||
 * [|String games 3] ||  ||

Information: Background === Whai string figures – A 2m cord with ends spliced together is stretched between a person’s hands and different figures are made. Some are very complicated and need help from another person. Toes or teeth can be used. In a competition, two people sit back to back and start to make a figure at the same time. The winner is the first finished. ===

From a very early time, people have practised string games and made a variety of complex and intricate string figures. They made string from whatever they had at hand. Sometimes it was a strip of leather, sometimes it was the stringy part of a plant. Fishermen made figures that looked like fish while desert people made lizards.

In Aotearoa, string figures were practised to encourage nimbleness of the fingers which was necessary for weaving and taniko work which the women spent a great deal of time doing. The Maori name for String Figures is “whai”, short for Te Whai Wawewawe a Maui” meaning “Maui’s clever string game” because in Maori legend the game originated with this great Maori hero. Maui’s Lasso is a string figure which tells the story of how Maui captured the sun. He held the sun captive in his string lasso until the sun promised to move more slowly across the sky so that Maui’s mother and his people had more time to finish their day’s work. Information: Youtube clips of string games you could try

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