Author(s): Michael King

General

This book is the moving story of a Maori art form that underwent a brief resurgence and then died. It is also the story of the last generation of Maori women who wore the moko.To research this book, historian Michael King travelled thousands of kilometres through the hinterland of New Zealand to find and speak with those who were tattooed, or with people who had first-hand knowledge of the custom. He located over 70 women who had been given the moko in traditional circumstances. By 1992 all but one were deceased. Marti Friedlander's photographs illustrate with skill and compassion the moko itself, the women who wore it and the environments in which they lived.