Abstract
The primary objective of this thesis is to review literature written about poi in order to construct an historical overview of poi from pre-contact Māori society until the 1920s. The mythological and Polynesian origins of poi, traditional and contemporary materials and methods used to make poi, early travellers, explorers, and settlers accounts of poiand two case studies on the use of poiin the Taranaki and Te Arawa areas will be included in this thesis. The information will be used to show the changes in poi that have occurred since Mäori and European arrival to New Zealand until the 1920s.