MAORI SECRETS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 93, 30 January 1934, Page 8

MAORI SECRETS

HISTORY IN CARVINGS. ELABORATE * lEETTNG-HOUSE. (Special to the ,# Guardian.") GISBOPvNE, January 26. With full Maori ceremonial, the new Tokomaru Bay meeting-house was officially opened yesterday. The house, which is named Te Honi Ki Rarotonga, in honour of the visiting Barotongan islanders, is intended to stand as tangible, evidence of the reunion of the two closely-allied branches of the Polynesian race. The Karotongans were accorded a leading part in the ceremony. In island ceremonial costume, differing from the Maori regalia in many details, particularly in its brightness of colour, they performed ritual dances associated with the equipping of the new house. The visitors brought as gifts to their hosts furnishings for the meetinghouse. These comprised a large number of mats, food bowls, ceremonial costumes, and other products of island crafts, which were ceremoniously dedicated to the service of the recipients. Princess Tinerau was accorded the honour of turning the key of the main doors, and a Rarotongan dance ritual was associated also with this portion of the ceremony. The meeting-house, on which work was commenced last June, was finally completed on Tuesday last, and is one of the most elaborate buildings of its kind in New Zealand.

Intricate carvings conceal the walls entirely. Each is different and each depicts* an ancestor of the Maori people in bas-relief. Each lias its own history closely guarded. So well kept are the secrets of the history of the carvings andthe different designs, that only the chief carvers can speak authoritatively upon the subject. They are handed down by word of mouth from father to son, and for a carver to explain the meanings of the various signs and symbols to any outsiders would be a betrayal of his sacred trust. In sharp contrast to the delicate artistry of the Maori in this respect are the amenities introduced to the Polynesian peoples by the white man's civilisation—concrete foundations, polished wooden flooring, electric power from a private plant, and water laid on from a specially-laid pipe-line from the hills through eight 600-gallon tanks, and the raucous voice of the telephone. Four hundred guests are served at each sitting at ten tables. At each table there are ten waitresses busy. There are three carvers, two servers, and four washing up continuously. Altogether the supplies consumed will tally" roughly 36 bullocks, 200 sheep, 400 to 000 fowls, 20 pigs, and nearly 2000 loaves of bread in the four days, to mention only the main items. The kitchens will need 45 cords of firewood. Two big Maori ovens, measuring Bft. by.oft., have been built, and each can cook v, whole bullock in the open anil! about two hours. Those ovens are formed by a mound of stones built to the height of a couple of feet over big thick lengths of tea-tree. This is fired, and after the fire has died down the bullocks are placed on the hot stones over the embers. The stones are hosed down first to remove sand, etc., and yet the heat remains sufficient to cook the whole beast in far less time than it takes the wife of the pakeha to cook the usual family roast. Whilo in Tokomaru Bay the Rarotongan party will sleep at the old pa Wai Paruparu. All this is typical of Maori hospitality, and under the direction of Sir Apirana Ngata and a capable committee, everything is well ordered and proceeding according to schedule.