MAORI SECRETS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 22, 26 January 1934, Page 9

MAORI SECRETS.

HISTORY IN CARVINGS.; ELABORATE MEETING HOUSE. OPENED AT TOKOMARU BAY. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) GISBORNE, this day. With full Maori ceremonial the new Tokomatti Bay meeting house was officially opened yesterday. The house, which is named Te Honi Ki Rarotonga, in honour of the visiting Rarotongan Islanders, is intended to stand as tangible evidence of the reunion of the two closely-allied branches of the Polynesian

race. The Rarotongans 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 meeting house. These comprised a large number of mats, food bowls, ceremonial costumes and other products of island crafts, which were ceremoniously dedicated to tlie 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.

Intricate Carvings. J The meeting house, on which work ivas commenced last June, was filially completed on Tuesday, 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 has relief. Each has its own history closely guarded. So well kept are the secrets of the history of the carvings and the 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 3 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 speciallylaid pipe-line from the hills througn eight 600-gallon tanks, and the raucus voice of the telephone.

Huge Food Supplies. Haka . competitions commenced on Tuesday morning, and by noon nearly 1000 Maori people had arrived in the bay for the hui. Four hundred guests are served at each sitting at 10 tables. \t each table there are 10 waitresses busy. There arc three carvers, two servers and four washing up continuously. Eight Maori women sat down on Monday to peel potatoes—they are still the supplies consumed will tally roughly 30 bullocks, 250 sheep, 400 to 500 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 sft, have been built, and each can cook a whole bullock in the open air m about two hours. These oVens are formed bv

a mound of stones built to the height ot 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 Band, etc., and yet the heat remains suacient to cook the whole beast in far less time than it takes the -wife of the pakeha to cook the usual family roast, i While in Tokomaru Bay the Raro- . ton<>un 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. The- visitors proceed from' Tokomaru Bay to-morrow to Waiomatatini there they will attend the unveiling of a memorial to the late Pine Tamahon, beloved pastor of the Maori people. Ihe party will leave the headquarters of the Ngati-Porou tribe at the end of the week en route to Waitangi.