The Tapu Quarantine. — This picture illustrates a Maori custom of the past, the restrictive law of tapu. The old man is a tohunga who has been in contact with the dead, and must not touch food with his hands or feed himself, for a certain period. He is therefore fed by the little girl, who is giving him a potato on the end of a fern-stalk. — [From a painting by G. Lindauer, Auckland Gallery
Previous Figure | Table of Contents | Figure in Context | Next Figure
The Tapu Quarantine.
This picture illustrates a Maori custom of the past, the restrictive law of tapu. The old man is a tohunga who has been in contact with the dead, and must not touch food with his hands or feed himself, for a certain period. He is therefore fed by the little girl, who is giving him a potato on the end of a fern-stalk.
[From a painting by G. Lindauer, Auckland Gallery.
Previous Figure | Table of Contents | Figure in Context | Next Figure
.jpg)