Kurī

Kurī were purposely brought across the Pacific Ocean to Aotearoa by the voyaging ancestors of Māori – including Kupe, the famous Polynesian navigator. Their inclusion in such challenging voyages across the open ocean indicates the importance of kurī to tūpuna.

Kurī were small dogs – similar in size to cocker spaniels. After their introduction, kurī spread across Aotearoa and many of the offshore islands. They became extinct after interbreeding with European dogs.

Rights: Canterbury Museum

Carved wooden kurī

Carved from kānuka, this small wooden figure of a kurī was found at Moncks Cave on the Banks Peninsula. The carving depicts the dog’s upwardly-curved tail – a characteristic of the species.

This ancient taonga is a rare example of a carved wooden ornament.

Image details: Pendant: Kurī, Polynesian dog, Monck's Cave, Te Rae Kura. Canterbury Museum E158.356.

Kurī lived with Māori households as pets or companion animals that also provided an important protein food source, and there are also Māori accounts of feral kurī populations. The kurī, along with all Pacific dogs and the dingo, is now included within the universal domestic dog species Canis familiaris.

Early European travellers to Aotearoa noted that kurī howled but did not bark. The lack of other comments on kurī behaviour probably means that they generally behaved like most other domestic dogs. In addition to being a food source, kurī hides, hair and bones were used to make and decorate clothing, jewellery and tools. Māori also used kurī as hunting dogs for catching various birds.

Rights: Public domain

Kahu kurī

Kurī hides were used for clothing. The tupuna in this image is wearing a kahu kurī along with huia feathers in his hair and is holding a mere.

Kurī were of traditional, cultural and spiritual significance within te ao Māori as recorded in narrative traditions. In terms of whakapapa, the ancestor of kurī was Irawaru, the brother-in-law of Mauī. Kurī were regarded both as ancestors and as kaitiaki or spiritual guardians of particular hapū and kin groups, and these traditions are still passed on today. Traditional stories tell of kurī who guided their waka and people to safe landing and of supernatural beings taking the form of kurī.

Rights: Public domain

Kurī among the warriors

Kurī feature in many traditional stories and were said to safely guide waka to shore.

This print in the British Museum shows a white kurī sitting among warriors in a waka. The drawing was made during James Cook’s first voyage 1768–1771.

Kurī behaviour features in various whakataukī about non-desirable personal qualities: idleness – he whiore tahutahu, an often-singed tail (from lying near the fire); cowardice – he whiore hume, tail between its legs; or being dominated – he kurī e pōtete ana, like a dog led around on a leash.

In the colonial period, introduced dogs rapidly interbred with kurī, and in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, feral dog packs believed to be kurī-European cross-breeds were seen as a great nuisance and shot on sight by shepherds and settlers. These feral dogs were exterminated as settlement proceeded. Pure-bred kurī disappeared during the second half of the 19th century.

Rights: Georgina Stewart and Sally Birdsall, ANZCCART, MPI

Animals of Aotearoa and animal ethics

Animals of Aotearoa: Kaupapa Māori Summaries and Exploring the Three Rs of Animal Ethics with Māori Ideas were developed with funding from the Australian and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Research and Teaching (ANZCCART) and the Ministry for Primary Industries. The silhouette design was created for this project and is the copyright of Professor Georgina Tuari Stewart and Dr Sally Birdsall.