To the Maori the huia was a tapu bird, sacred above all other denizens of the forest. It was the elect of Tangaroa, a royal bird closely associated with the great chiefs of the land, and only chiefs of distinction could properly wear its tail feathers – that is, until the coming of the pakeka broke down the importance of individual tapu and chiefly rank. Association of ideas was important to the Maori, and the tapu of this bird was directly connected, not only with the tapu of chiefs, but more important still with the tapu of the human head. All heads were tapu in greater or lesser degree, particularly the heads of males of leading families, and much more sacred was the head of a high chief who made tapu even the place where he rested. Tapu is catching; so the tapu of the individual became the tapu of the feathers and ultimately of the bird. To the Maori the huia was a tapu bird, sacred above all other denizens of the forest. It was the elect of Tangaroa, a royal bird closely associated with the great chiefs of the land, and only chiefs of distinction could properly wear its tail feathers – that is, until the coming of the pakeka broke down the importance of individual tapu and chiefly rank. Association of ideas was important to the Maori, and the tapu of this bird was directly connected, not only with the tapu of chiefs, but more important still with the tapu of the human head. All heads were tapu in greater or lesser degree, particularly the heads of males of leading families, and much more sacred was the head of a high chief who made tapu even the place where he rested. Tapu is catching; so the tapu of the individual became the tapu of the feathers and ultimately of the bird.

- W.J Phillipps

The Book of the Huia 1963