TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 87, 18 September 1953, Page 1

TAUPO-NUI-A-TIA

TALES OF THE TAUPO COUNTRY A Hamilton reader has written expressing interest in the "Times" front-page photograph of July 29, which showed Te Rohu, widow of Rewi Maniapoto, holding the mere Pahikaure, famous tribal talisman of the Tuwharetoa people. . He mentions that he had been puzzled by the fact that Pahikaure was referred to both as a mere and a patu (club), and it is possible that a further note_or two on the subject may be of interest. The "mere" of the Maori belonged to the class of weapons known as "patu poto", or short clubs. These were of three types, being, in addition to the -mere, the kotiate and the wahaika. Edward Tregear, in his book "The Maori Race" describes the mere as the most beautiful of all Maori arms, and says that it "was a battledoor shaped weapon, somewhat resembling a flat elub." His description of it as shaped like a battledoor, or battledore, is not perhaps very happy, as in fact many, if not fnost, meres were not as wide proportionately to length as a battledore. The late Te Rangihiroa (Sir Peter Buck), in his great book "The Coming of the Maori" (1949, p. 277 ff.) states that the short clubs or patu poto, have some features peculiar to New Zealand. They have flat blades, with convex ends somewhat spatulate in shape, the grip or handle has an enlarged butt end which was carved, and near the butt the handle was perforated for a loop of dogskin. He states, that the mere type was the simplest in form, and was probably first made in stone, then whalebone and last, but most valuable of all, in greenstone. His diagrams, of actual specimens, show that the shape of the mere is typically similar to that of Pahikaure, as shown in our photograph. Though the term mere is applied loosely to clubs of the mere shape regardless of material, says Buck, the term should be restricted to the most valued clubs made of jade (greenstone), the stone clubs having their own distinctive name of onewa, and the whalebone clubs carrying the descriptive name of patu paraoa (patu, club; paraoa, whalebone). Another type of short club was the kotiate, in which the blade was wider, with an indentation on each side, giving it somewhat the shape of a fiddle. In many drawings purporting to show the "mere," the weapon shown has often been the Kotiate. In all three types of patu poto the ends were ground to a sharp edge, which extended down the sides. A strip of dogskin was passed through the hole in the handle and tied in a loop for passing over the thumb and around the hand. The clubs were used for quick infighting, and the orthodox technique is described by Buck as being a thrust or half-arm jab, in which the front end of the club was brought in contact with the temple, neck or ribs and, as the enemy was falling, the butt or heel (reke) delivered a' downward blow on the skull. The turns of the dogskin loop round the hand prevented the hand from slipping when the blow was struck and prevented the force of the jab- from being weakened. Edward Tregear states that the

mere Pahikaure was reputed. to have the power of becoming invisibie to anyone but its rightful owner, and that on five occasions it had been buried with ancestors. George French Angas, the artist, who sketched Te Heuheu Mananui shortly before his death in 1846, described Pahikaure as being one of the largest meres he had seeh. On an occasion at Waihi, Lake Taupo, in 1929, when the photograiph published in the "Times" of July 29th was taken, the present writer was privileged to hold it in his hand. It certainly justified Tregear's opinion that the Maori mere was a most beautiful weapon. A feature of Pahikaure is an irregular silvery band running across it, veined as is the type of pounamu (greenstone) referred to as inanga. This name arose from the fact that pounamu of that type resembled to the Maori eye the glistenihge of inanga (white-bait) in clear water. Similariy another type veined with white was called "Pipiwharauroa" from a resemblance seen in it to the barred breast of the shining cuckoo. As one held the treasured Pahikaure, glistening in the bright sunshine of that peaceful day in 1929, it was difflcult to realise that so beautiful a thing had brought swift death to many.