MAORI CAVE DRAWINGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 26, Issue 671, 16 May 1952, Page 5

MAORI CAVE DRAWINGS

Sir,-The broadcast talks on the cave drawings gave us the points of view of artist, scientist and layman respectively. Only the mythologist was missing. Had we heard the opinions of someone wellversed in Maori mythology, Theo Schoon’s case for their being connected with the magical practices of tohungas would have been strengthened. We are no experts in these matters, but Mr. H. McCully and myself have already made tentative links between certain drawings and~ myths, for example, the Big Dog as a deity who guarded travellers, the Taniwhas as probable personifications of the river as a source of food, the ritual of dog sacrifice, and others. I felt that the least objective of the speakers was the scientist, Dr. Duff, who ‘tried-to make a strong case for the drawings being recent by citing certain examples as obviously modern, and other shelters where mission script is found near what he compares with doodling. ‘He seemed more anxious to debunk those who believed the drawings to be the.work of moa-hunters than to give all the known facts. Or perhaps he hasn’t heard all of them. For instance, it is fairly well known in South Canterbury amongst those who take an interest in these things that the cave-shelters with drawings were tapu to the Maori until a tohunga, Te Maiharoa, travelled around removing this tapu so that modern Maoris could use ‘them. This was done some time towards the end of last century. With the tapu removed, the shelters were freely used by the last parties to hunt the weka. Members of these parties wrote their tames in mission-style script. This makes possible a gap between obviously modern additions and the drawings themselves: We have every confidence in the veracity of two elderly Maori friends from Temuka who, after visiting certain shelters with us, told us that while they had no idea who had dgne the drawings the names in mission letters were those of certain old people who were alive when our informants were young. In fact, they knew exactly who they were. If the courteous Maori often gives answers we want to hear it would be unfair to imply that he never at any time speaks the truth.

W.

HART-SMITH

(Timaru).