maori.org.nz acknowledge
Kemera Wilson
for providing this information.

Although Maori did not develop an alphabet type of reading and writing until after the white man came, they had a highly developed reading and writing style within carving. Today people can read A B C, but the art of reading carving is still alive

This is our recorded history, handed down to us through the passages of time. There are carvings that are over 500 years old still surviving today, yet historians prefer to read what is written in books, often by people who are not Maori, instead of taking the time to read our history as recorded by us.

This section, will hopefully, be the start of giving people an insight into reading carving. It is by no means a complete dictionary. As with learning another language, time is the main teacher.