NATIONAL MAORI MUSEUM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 150, 25 June 1907, Page 3

NATIONAL MAORI MUSEUM.

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent!

WELLINGTON, this day. Mr A. Hamilton, in expressing gratitude for the Government's derision to properly house the Maori relics, now under his charge, he said to a reporter that what -was wanted was a National Maori Museum, representing the art of :4he Moari people. "I think," said Mr. Hamilton, "it is the duty of the Government to the Maoris to establish such a place, and also a duty of the Maori people to support it, so that their descendants may be able to say, ' there is the work of our fathere.' "Works in wood, added Mr. Hamilton, would perish in a couple of generations if allowed to remain outside. The Museum was the proper place for their reception. He |believed that soon, when the Maoris saw that their treasures would be safely housed, they would agree to let them go into the Colonial Museum, and that it was very likely that private collectors would assist by depositing specimens to complete the series. The Maori room, included in the. plans ior the new block of departmental buildings about to be erected, will be large enough for a commencement, but will not suffice for a complete collection. However, this deficiency of space will be remedied when the proposed new Museum building is an accomplished fact. For some years Mr. Hamilton has been working industriously to realise his ideal of an All-Maori Museum.