MAORI MIGRATION

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 142, 3 July 1937, Page 6

MAORI MIGRATION

- Fress Association.)

Wanganui ArtistY Eloquent Painting TRADITION AND HISTORY

(By Telegraph-

"WANGANUI, Last Night. I That the Maori conception of the I migration to New Zealand differs to I some degree from European ideas of j this groat event is the conclusion arj rived at after a glimpse of an oil paintI ing by Mr Oriwa T. Haddon, WangaI nui, depicting a unit of the migration j about to land after the long cruise from I sunny ■ Hawhaiki. Perhaps the only Maori artist in New Zealand, Mr Haddon painted this picture for the Government Publicity Department, and based it on information from the elders of his tribe during his boyhood days in | Taranaki. The picture is oue of 8 sories dealing with the traditions and history of the Maori race. Tbe main point in which the painting differs from European illustrations .is the state of physical condition of the imgrants, whom other artists have depicted as being either in the last stages of . emaciation, or bloated and fat. Mr Haddon 's opinion is that the Maoris bore with them sufficient food and water for the journey and therefore he has painted them in the best of condition, without any ill-effects from the voyage. The vessol in the painting is a double canoe with deck and sail, a type which experts state could have made the trip in a fortnight with a fair wind.

Another variation is that the clothing worn by the Maoris is of "tapa" cloth, and not iflax or feathers, which [ were foreign to them until they landed | in their new habitation. i In accordance with Maori history, which affirms that these animals were used as food and sacrifices on the Tuahu (altar), a dog is included in Mr Haddon's painting. When the migrants left on their cruise their destination was "in the lap of the gods," and accordingly the artist has woven into his picture the story of the gods so loved by the ancient Maori. The canoes, hollowed from Tane (God of Forests) and the sail of Tawhirimatea (God of Winds). The warriors themselves are symbolical of

the god of the old Maori Tumatauenga, ! God of War and Father of Men. In order te assist the oarsmen to turn the vessel shoreward to the chosen landing place, an old tohunga priest waves a ceremqnial axe and invokes Tawhirimatea to direct his winds into the hialf-raised sail. With his other hand he pleads to Tangaroa (God of the Ocean) to abate the waters. In the body of the boat an old woman sings a chant to the old land — the great Hawhaiki of yesterday. Next to her stands a younger woman, with a baby in her arms, wondering what the future wiil hold for the younger generation in the new land. A look-out man in the boiy studies the coastline intently and an old man nearby guaTds the punga (anchor). Opposite this old man stands a strapping youth with his gaze fixed stehdily down at the anchor rope, symbolical of the lasting Maori tradition that the younger generation look to their elders as the anchor of everything pertaining to Maori wisdom, life and welfare.