Tekoteko

A tekoteko is a Māori carved human figure that is mounted as a finial, usually above the gable of a Māori building, most commonly a wharenui (meeting house) or a pātaka (food storehouse).^[1][2] It usually stands above the koruru, a carved head mounted where the bargeboards meet at the apex of the gable.^[3] The tekoteko is carved as the embodiment of the one who takes a tree as material for their house and owns said house, as all things in the environment were believed as related to mankind from the union of Ranginui and Papatūānuku.^[4]

A pātaka with a tekoteko on top

A tekoteko dating from around 1800 held at LACMA

The word tekoteko has also been used of freestanding carvings of human figures.^[5]