WEMBLEY’S MAORI HOUSE

Hokitika Guardian, 13 June 1924, Page 4

WEMBLEY’S MAORI HOUSE

D !:;■(.Y TO MU PKM DKRTi >.V.

WKU.INDTON. II

Mr I. MeDun.ihl. a-si.-i it ill director of the Dominion .M 11-eUlil. lilts replied to III" charge Ilf nIK Mf. l vamliilisin made liy Mr I. T. i’etiihcrton in l.otlilnii i t regard in 1 in- decoration of the .;1 1 1 .Maori house in I In* New Zealand pavilion at tlu* Umpire (exhibition. lie stall--, tlint tin- photographs In which .Mr IVmberton takas exception an* not tourist photographs, Imt studies of <•! hunlugii al inu-rost. ilhistralioiis of (in* arts ami crafts of tin- oldtime Maori, photographs of famous old chiefs, and various studies of tlie Maoris a.- they were when the I’akehn i-itme to New Zealand—such men its Ngakurupnna, of the Ngaptthi-Tiiiaugi-Witoimi, a famous chieftain of Lho Wanganui, who claimed for him-clf the somewhat unpleasant distinction of having shot von Teinp-Uy in the light at Te Xgulti: () Te .Mann Mini Tati|)opoki. a noted .\rawa chief, and other linn of famous deeds in Maori hi-tory of recent times. Mr McDonald says .Mr I’einbcrton apparently knows little or nothing of the mentality of the Maori, for, as a matter of fact, the Tiitutuku, or decorative panel, which alternate- with the carved panel- round the walls of the house, wits the initial picture gallery of the Maori people, dttst as in olden times our art was expressed in tapestries, so the Maori, with the limited means at hi- disposal, sought to ex-1 press certain highly poetical ideas in plaited panels. Air McDonald adds that the modern Maori house is frequently adorned with modern photographs, tTie Mauri being quite willing to improve upon the old and primitive methods of decoration. As an instance of up-to-dateness, Mr McDonald states that the great meeting house at Forouratigi has, instead , of pawa shell eyes in its tiki figure over the gable, two large white sail- ( rers reversed! ,