STAMP STORIES

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21256, 30 August 1934, Page 5 (Supplement)

STAMP STORIES

(By R. J. G. Collins)

Two Maori Designs

Two stamps of the special set, issued in 1906 to commemorate the International Exhibition held at Christchurch, were concerned with Maori canoes. On the £d value the arrival of the celebrated canoe, Te Arawa, was depicted, while on the Id value, Maori carvers were shown at work upon the prow of a canoe. Until comparatively recent years there were several well-preserved war canoes in various parts of the country, but unfortunately, through lack of interest, care has not always been taken to preserve these interesting links with the past. One ; of the outstanding exhibits in the Auckland museum is a perfectly preserved example of a beautifully carved and ornamented canoe, but of many of the other celebrated canoes only portions now exist. Just lately a part of the canoe reputed to have been used by Te Rauparaha 'when he raided the Canterbury Maoris, has been presented to the Canterbury museum. Outside the beautiful Maori church at Ohinemutu, Rotorua, the shells of two canoes have been erected, and the story connected with one of these canoes is particularly interesting. This canoe, named Te-Awhi-Awhi, was made from a totara tree that grew on the ranges between Lakes Tarawera and Rotoiti. About five generations ago one of the ruling chiefs in the district discovered a tree which he thought would be suitable for a canoe. To measure the girth he put his arms round the trunk and instructed that the canoe when made should be named "Te-Awhl-Awihi-a-Puwhakaoho" (Embraced by the chief "The AwakeningGun") The canoe was a valued tribal possession, and although lent at times to sub-tribes it always remained the property of the descendants of the chief who had it made. In comparatively modern times it was used in connection with the regattas on Lake Rotorua, but for some years was allowed to lie in the mild in a stream in the village of Tarewa. Mr Chambers, of Waiwera House, Rotorua, a keen student of Maori lore, determined to arrange for the preservation of the canoe. He approached the chief, who nominally owned it, and was given permission to move the canoe, provided the I natives of Tarewa offered no objection. Now it happened that the Tarewa natives had had a disagreement with the Maoris of Ohinemutu, and the former would agree to the canoe being erected on the church grounds, but would not agree to the canoe passing over Ohinemutu territory. To have dragged the canoe from Tarewa to the church would have been an easy matter, but the opposition of the Tarewa Maoris made it necessary to convey the canoe down to the shores of Lake Rotorua, where it was carried by motor launch and carefully landed upon the church ground. The honour of all the parties was satisfied in this way.