THE KOROTANGI

Chronicle (Levin), 21 June 1946, Page 2

THE KOROTANGI

REVERED MAORI RELIC '

WELLINGTON, June 20, There was . a dramatie incide.nt, the full significance ■ oi whieh could only have been appreciated by a Maori, at the Dominion Museum yesterday,- wlieii Princess Te Puea Herangi, the Waikato ehieftainess, for the first time belield the Korotangi, oue of the.; ancient treasures of her people. The stone bird, the origin of which has puzzled ethnologiats ever since it cawc iuto pakeha hauds last ceiitury, is de|)osited 011 loan in the niuseum. As the building is still, in the main, occupied .by the R.N.Z.A.F., the Korotangi cannot be displayed to tlie public. The bird reposes in a glass case in the oiiicc of the director (Dr. Oiiver). As the ehieftainess approachod tlie Korotangi she addressed it as if it liad been alive, recalling its association over the eenturies with her ancestors. Te Puea wept over the bird, according to the custom of lier people. With her were her husband, Tuniokai Katipa, and M. Itotohiko Jones, a kiusman, and private secrytary to thc N'ative Minister. When Te Puea ccased to call to the bird, Dr. Oiiver asked if slic " would like to handle it. Because of the extrcme tapu surrouuding it, however, she iudicated that it should first be toucbed by the senior niale i>resent. liotohiko took it in his hands and gave it to her. Bpeaking in Maori and addressing Dr. Oiiver and tlie etlinologist, Mr. W. J. Pliillipps, ihe' ehieftainess said: "My greetings to you both. Pleaso aceept my gratitude for permittiug me to see and hold in my hands this great treasurc of niy ancestors. I know also a certaiu waiata (song) pertuining to it. To me it is a relic of great importance. Hands that once fondled it are •long since dust, eyes that have wept over it no longer weep. It is the silent witness of many happcnings. "1 am happy to thiiik that Korotangi is here in this sacred house. If it liad been left in Maori hands it niight have disuppeared altogether. Jlowevcr, if there is ever an opportunity of this bird returning to Waikato, i want you to know that in Mahinarangl, our tribai nieeting-housc at Ngaruawahia, we have a home worthv of it. My people would be overjoyed to welcome it home once again. " Dr. Oiiver said that ivhen tlie museum was reopened, the Korotangi J would be pliiced in a conspieuous position. The museum autliorities, he added, wero fully aware of the veneration in whieh the relic was held by the Maori people. . ' . • ,

According to Waikato' legend the Korotangi was once a living bird. It took its present forni after being in- ! sulted by the jealous wifc of its foruier' guardian. The bird, it is said, fiew 1 away, but eventually returned to the- ! spring near Kawhia, where it remained for so long. Various aeeounts have | been givcn as to its rediscovery, but ; tlie Waikato people say that its whereabouts wero always known until it was removed from the spring. It has been tlie subject of more' than oue ehant, se\eral of which have been recofded. j European experts ugree that the! Korotangi is not the work of Polynesian hands. The Waikato people, however, adhere to the view that the bird came to New Zealand in their ances- ! truJ eanoe Tainui uiofe than six cen- j turies ago. The possibility that it vas| associated with the wreek of a vessei,! of Easteru ot igin and made of teak, | the remains of whieh are still on tlie j west coast not far from Karioi, can- j not be 'dismissed altogether. Te Puea j was sliown a bolt i'roui that vessei, also ! the fainous Tamii bell, diseovered ! somewhero in that portion of the island j by Ihe ltev. William Colenso.

J ue clueitainess also asked to see thc two portraits of Te Rauparulia, alleutiou to wliich Svas drawn in ihe I'oSI reeently, und she studied them carefully. That in naval uniform did not appeal to her partieularlv. But she asked if she could oblain a copy oi' that of Te ilaupahuha, who, like lierself, was of Tainui stiek, wherein he is de(jlcted in Maori costume and liolding a greenstone mere. Te Kuuparaha and lier great-grandJ'aUier, l'otatau hh; Wherowhei'o (tlie lirst Maori -king), were contemporaries. "1 would like to have a copy to hang with the portrait of Potatau and others in Maliinarangi," she said. The visitor evineed much interest iu Ihe canoes in the museum 's collection, and spent soiiic tinve in exantining ' ' Heke-Kuiigatira, " which was the gift pt' another notabie ehieftainess, the late Ani Hiko (Mrs. Wi Hutana), of Lake Wairarapa. "Wliat a wise woman, " she exciaimed, "to preserve tlus iine cxample of our old craftsmanship. ' ' Other objects that interested uer were the buriai cliests from Kawhia, relics of a much earJier peribd of Maori culture. "I hope there is uothing inside them," Te Puda remarked to Mr. Pliillipps.