It was not the Maori women of long ago who had the most elaborate coiffures, but the men. This is proved by the collection of tools and other accessories used to trim topknots of the chiefs on the Poor Knights. The tools were found by Mr William Fraser in a cave on these islands, probably in the early 1920's. William Frazer was Whangarei Harbour Board Engineer 1920-48 and an authority on Maori artifacts.
This unusual collection of tools consisted of a wooden pillow made of totara, a chopping block and a piece of sharp obsidian to do the actual cutting. On a ledge in the cave were nine topknots laid out side by side, all in perfect condition. Some of these were light red, while others, darker in colour, were touched up with red kokowai dye. Each was tied so as to form what is known today as a "switch". This cave must have been the chief Tatua's beauty parlour.
Some years after the "Barbers' Shop" was discovered on the Poor Knights, Mr Charlie Devonshire found the body of a child in an almost inaccessible cave. This child was wrapped in a cloak, and laid on its side on a folded flax mat.
The side of the face exposed to the air had deteriorated, and dry maggot cases were plainly visible. The cloak, too, had suffered, but nevertheless, that part directly on top of the folded flax mat was intact and showed a taniko pattern.
When the child was turned over, its skin and hair on the protected side was seen to be in good condition. Also on the rocky ledge were some paua shells filled with kokowai dye - probably in preparation for the hahunga ceremony, which of course, never took place because of the massacre on the islands in 1823.
Reference: Florence Keene, Tai Tokerau, Northland Room, Whangarei Library