A figure in Maori wood carving, with a birdlike head and a human body.
there is one central figure with manaia either side
Example sentencesExamples
- The large manaia represents immortal life.
- Mighty Manaia towered above them in sculptured splendour.
- This shows a closed-mouth manaia with a very large hand on the body.
- The beautiful taonga also includes a manaia carved halfway down its length.
- The important symbol in Maori carving termed the manaia is basically avian in origin, assuming human characters in many of its forms, and producing "bird-men" of distinctive type.
- This is a conjectural rough-draft reconstruction of Manutuke II's end wall with five "stemmed" or "ribbed" manaia panels.
- Sometimes you'll see tiki or manaia or different kowhaiwhai forms coming through it.
- A school farewell was forfeited and replaced with a private staff function two weeks ago at which he was presented with a manaia pendant in recognition of more than 20 years in charge of Murrays Bay School.
- There is a second set of panels with amanaia motif.
- Equally resonant is the flag devoted to Motutapu, which contains the Christian symbol of the cross raised alongside a white banner and a blue manaia crested with three feathers.