MAORI RELICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 1, Issue 3, 26 April 1939, Page 1

MAORI RELICS

SYSTEMATIC SEARCH IN SWAMPS TARANAKI PROPOSAL Taking advantage of the low level oi" rivers as a restdt eif the dry >easoH, Mr W. Id. Skir.iK'.', noted New Plymouth authority o:» Mauri history and affairs, is making arrange.;' merits on behalf uf the Ta.vuaUi Museum in New Plymouth for a systematic search in the swamps ai-<l streams of the district for forgotten nieces of .Maori carving and other treasures. The unearthing this year of a carved prow of an ancient Maori canoe had aroused interest in a neighbour, ing spot where the late Mr Hebarlev had said bygone Maoris had hidden their treasures from raiders, wrote Mrs M. A. Earp, of Waitara, in a letter received by the committee o! the New Plymouth Library and Taranaki Museum. At present-the Dominion Museum had the loan of a portion of a whare or pataka dug up there during draining operations about 50 years ago, and taken to Wellington more recently by Ladv Pomare, she stated. During the intervening years the one-time drained paddock had been grazed by house cows, the drain gradually filled in and part of the area had reverted to swamp (now fairly dry) . The local Maori carvers wished to spear it. He had had in mind only this we-1-: that they should, in view of the dry season, make investigations, not onir 'n that swamp, l;"t also in the oU'er swamps in the district, said Mr Skinner. The committee authorised him to make arrangements for investigations. > THE BEACON'S SERVICE FOR SMALL CLASSIFIED ADVERTISE. MENTS BRINGS BIG RESULTS.