MAORI CARVING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 214, 4 May 1932, Page 6

MAORI CARVING

f CRAFT NOT DYING 1 SYMBOLICAL SIGNIFICANCE = OF THE NATIVE j DESIGN j In an address to the Palmerston l North Citizens' Lunch Club, Mr. J. j M. McEwen told members something jj about Maori carving. j "We are constantly being remindj ed that Maori carving is a fast dying jj art and that soon will be a thing of j | the past; but if we make inquiries we | ■ find it is no longer dying, but is bei ing revived," he said. j "Already several carving schools jj have been formed in different parts j of New Zealand, and many Maoris E are again acquiring the art of their \ ancestors," continued the speaker. j "Unfortunately, it is true that this j admirable art can never reach its j f ormer Standard for, owing to the rejj ticence of the old tohungas, much E valuable knowledge has been lost. j What we have is due to the untiring E elforts of such men as John White, j Taylor, Elsdon Best and many others. = To-day the main value of Maori j carving is aest'hetic, but formerly its jj purpose was to commemorate the - jj deeds of the famous ancestors of the j Maoris. For example, there is a slab E in a meeting house at Ohinemutu \ carved to represent Tama te Kapua, i the great ancestor of the Arawa tribe. E This gentleman is always shown on a j pair of stilts to depict a robbing es-; E capade in which Tama used stilts to = hide his footprints. E No Similarity In Arts \ "It is a rather remarkable thing j that although the Maoris belong to E the great Polynesian race scattered j throughout the Pacific there is no E similarity between the arts of the I Maori and the Polynesians. In fact j Maori art shows a much greater affinE ity with Melanesian art. According j to legend, the Maoris learned their = carving in this way: The son of one, E Rua, had been carried off by TanE garoa, the chief of the Ponaturi, who E lived under the sea (below the horij zon). Rua, on pursuing Tangaroa, E discovered his son set up as a tekoj teko or gable ornament on that = worthy's house. Rua toolc down his : son and the many beautiful carvings j which adorned the house and return- : ed to Aotea Roa with them. These | 1 carvings served as patterns for the j j Maori 'tohunga Kai Whakairo' or i E carving experts. The fact that the j Ponaturi are supposed to have been i E Papuans lends colour to the theory \ that Maori carving is of Melanesian j j origin. j j "The feature of Maori carving," ! j added the speaker, "is the lack of j j straight lines and geometrical figures. j 'A line curved is a line beautiful' was j the maxim of the ancient tohunga, j Everything* is beautifully curved and j balanced. The results achieved by j eye measurements were truly remarkj able. So true Were they that a canoe j shaped and hollowed without any j mechanical aid floated perfectly i ! when launched for the first time. j Carved Meeting Houses j ! "Nowadays the only carved houses | that are at all common are meetingj houses, but in former times all the j important chiefs had carved dwelj lings, while the pataka, or food j store were iavishly adorned. On the j top of the gable at the front of the j j house is the tekoteko, who represents j the chief of the tribal ancestors. The j most beautiful carving is the korupe i round the door and window, a featj ure being fern spirals. Inside the j house the walls are lined with reed j panels interspersed with poupou or j carved slabs. All the rafters are j painted in different patterns with j red, blaclc and white paint. The j motifs of these patterns are all j taken from nature. The food stores j j are usually elevated on carved posts. j ! They are not ornamented at all in j j the interior, but the whole of the outj side is covered with ancestral carvj ings. j "Since the Maoris are essentially a j fighting race they had numerous j weapons. These were made of greenj stone, whalebone and wood, and the j ma j ority of them were elaborately j ornamented. The best known and j favourite weapon is the mere j pounamu, a greenstone club. This j was formerly the weapon of a chief. j "Many of them had names and : j long histories, being handed down j from, father to son and regarded j with great veneration," the speaker j added. "The onewa was a similar j weapon made of greywaclce. The j most common of the wooden clubs j was the patu. Of the different types j of spears the tao was the most comI mon, but tho taiaha the most popuj lar and ornamented. Its blade was j j fashioned as the tongue of a man, j j and it had eyes to see what the other ! man's spear was going to do and act j accordingly. The ko, a digging in- : strument, was also used as a weapon. Tiki Represents An Ancestor j j "A very familiar object to most j New Zealanders is the tiki, but its j significance is not so well known. It j is not a god, but the representation i of an ancestor, and takes the place of i the English locket, The artistic ! bent of the Maori is well illustrated ; by the many intricate and beautiful patterns of his boxes,. hewn from totara logs. Some of the finest carvings are those of the stern and prow pieces of a canoe. Tikis were made purposely unlike the ancestor they represented so that if anyone had the bad taste to curse the tiki there would be no slight cast on the an- j cestor's character." j