A volunteer in Tararua who lopped a phallus from a Māori carving with a chainsaw, has gone from hero to zero in the eyes of his community. It proved difficult, so he returned the next morning with a mini chainsaw and reduced the phallus to sawdust. However, he couldn't recall seeing phalluses on other Māori carvings, and believed the sculpture was beyond the pale. Massey University professor of Māori visual arts and culture Bob Jahnke said both male and female figures with genitalia were powerful and significant traditional symbols in Māori carving. Wainwright's removal of the carving's phallus was an insult to Rangitāne so grave that Jahnke felt it himself, even though he was Ngāti Porou.

Source: Stuff June 14, 2019 05:26 UTC