Poia mai taku poi

Reviews literature written about poi in order to construct an historical overview of poi from pre-contact Māori society until the 1920s. The mythological and Polynesian origins of poi, traditional and contemporary materials and methods used to make poi, early travellers, explorers, and settlers accounts of poi and two case studies on the use of poi in the Taranaki and Te Arawa areas are included. The information is used to show the changes in poi that have occured since Māori and European arrival to New Zealand until the 1920s.