New Zealand

traditional maori wood sculpture
The legend tells the following:

The ancestors of the Maori sailors sailed safely in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of years before European sailors dared to sail further than the eye could see, fearing to fall over the edge of the world. That is why the carving also takes the form of a tauihu (canoe bug) to commemorate our early explorers and portray the pride and respect we have in our canoe culture.