COSTLY MEMORIAL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 12

COSTLY MEMORIAL.

ASHES IN VAULT BELOW. STORIES IN CARVINGS. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") NEW PLYMOUTH, this day. Manukorihi Pa, Waltara, which is crowded with visiting Maoris from all parts of the North Island, was early astir this morning in preparation for the final ceremony of the week's luii th-j opening of the magnificently car\ ed meeting house and the unveiling of a statue to the memory of the late Sir Maui Pomare by the Governor-General, Viscount Galway. The past week has been a series of welcomes to natives coming to pay tribute to a great benefactor and special trains from Auckland and Wellington to-day' brought Jurtlier distinguished visitors and sightsyci s. The monumental statue of Sir Msim Pomare is a splendid example of the sculptor's art, and depicts Sir Maui in characteristic attitude, delivering an oration. It stands on a high bluff fronting the pa, which overlooks the Waitara flats and the mouth- of the river. Behind it in the distance towers Mount Egmont. The actual carving of the monument occupied a year, and the total cost was about £1700. It was carved in Sicilian marble by Mr. W. T. Trethewey, of Christchurch. The figure is exquisitely finished, and with it are Sir Maui's mats and insignia of office as a high chief. He holds a scroll in one hand, and his attitude is one of calm watchfulness as he looks out over the pa with which he was so familiar. The pedestal of the statue is built over the vault in which is a wonderfully, carved casket containing Sir Maui's ashes. It is of highly polished granite, with a circular die, and is supported by red granite columns. The design of this pedestal was the subject of many conferences between the Maori Trust Board and the architects . and contractors. Within the vault with the ashes of Sir Ma.ui lie those of his son, Narea Pomare, whose tragic death in a shooting accident followed a few months after liis famous father's.

Rare Carving. The carved meeting house, so dear to the native heart, which, with native ceremonial, was opened by Ki.ng Koroki on Wednesday afternoon and by the Governor-General in European manner this afternoon, is decorated with rare carvings, both inside and out. The majority are modelled on examples of the northern school of Maori carving, extending from Kaitaia. to Helensville and thence to.Waitara, and Waverley, 011 the west coast and to Thames and Piako on the east. ' At the request of Sir Apirana Ngata the Taranaki elders allotted a number of to be modelled on the East Coast types as a compliment to Lady Pomare. Heavy upright slabs, richly ornamented, represent the work of the Rotorua-East Coast school and are magnificent speciinens. Outside at the top of the gable, is a figure representing Maui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga, the legendary hero of the Polynesians, shown as fishing up Aotearoa (the North Island), the great fish of Maui. He is shown gripping a fishing line, the hook of which is embedded under the roof of Tanganui, the mythical undersea house. Below, as a support, is a tiki named Maui Pomare. At night electric lights, as the eyes of, Maui Pomare, shine out.

Many stories of the early history of the Maori are told in the carved panel decorations, and 011 some panels are the names of their traditional' or mytnVal ancestors. The technique in the finished panels is unmatched in any other Maori meeting house. The stitclrng and lashing of the panels were carried out by young Maori women instructed by Sir Apirana Ngata.