Gifts from the Maori People

Te Ao Hou, 1971, Page 65

Gifts from the Maori People At the Gisborne reception by the Maori people, gifts were presented to the Royal visitors. Her Majesty the Queen received a papahou, or treasure box for a person of high rank, used to hold the most treasured items of adornment. The design is original, and the treatment of the two lizard figures on the lid is of particular significance. The presence of a lizard on a carved object warns viewers of its sacredness, and in this concept has a protective role. The lizards are locked together at the mouth, as sentinels, to ensure that no evil enters the box and no harm befalls the owner. Symbolic of his long relationship with and love for the sea, His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh was given a Maori war canoe with carved prow and stern-piece, complete with seats and paddles. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales received an urunga, a 5½ ft long steering paddle, used by the captain of a canoe to steer his vessel on a correct and prescribed line. It is a symbol of leadership, and a reminder that his destiny is not fulfilled until he boards his own canoe (the Commonwealth) and steers it as its captain. A wakahuia, a smaller version of the papahou, was presented to Her Royal Highness the Princess Anne. A stylised human head projects at each end, and on the lid is a raised human figure with arched back, forming the handle. The carving was done at the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute at Rotorua by Master Carver Hoani Taiapa of Ngati Porou, Chief Instructor Tuti Tukaokao of Te Arawa, Clive Fugill of Ngai Te Rangi and Jimmy Fergus of Ngati Kahungunu.