A Maori ornament or pendant, typically carved from greenstone or bone and worn as a talisman or emblem of rank.
From Maori heitiki, a word unique to Polynesian languages referring to a stylized female form pendant that served spiritual and social purposes in pre-colonial New Zealand society.
These carved pendants are essentially ancient New Zealand social media—wearing one instantly communicated your status, ancestry, and spiritual protection to everyone who saw you, all without saying a word.
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