Hostel Boys Level Site For Maori Meeting House

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28951, 20 July 1959, Page 13

Hostel Boys Level Site For Maori Meeting House

Maori boys at the Rehua Hostel have levelled the site for the proposed Maori meeting house, and construction of the shell is expected to be started soon by contract. The Methodist Central Mission had promised to provide £2OOO towards the cost, and so far £l5OO has been found from Wairoa and Gisborne Maori trusts. When the remaining £5OO is available the main construction and carving will be started. The Maori boys will be responsible for most of the work. There are, however, some difficulties, according to the superintendent of the mission (the Rev. W. E. Falkingham). One of the main difficulties was the provision of totara wood for the carving. Mr Falkingham travelled to the North Island to find a suitable tree, but the cost of transport to Christchurch was more than £2OO. This problem was solved when Mr M. Thacker, after reading an article in “The Press” about the meeting house, made a gift of a large totara tree from his farm in Okains Bay and said that another would be available if required for the work. Thia saved the mission

the large cost of shipping the wood from the North Island, said Mr Falkingham.

One totara log, measuring 20ft by 4ft 6in, has already been brought to a timber company and will be milled early this week. The two remaining problems are the provision of kie kie and pingao, both types of native flax used in the making of the tuku tuku, the interior panels which extend from the dado to the ceiling of the meeting house. No supplies of kie kie have been found in the country and pingao has so far been found only in the North Island. The father of one of the boys at the hostel, Mr H. Kaa, has written to the mission saying that a group of people in Tikitiki has been organised for the making of the tuku tuku panels and that they are awaiting supplies of the materials. The carving in the meeting house will combine the tribal designs of the Ngati-Tahu and East Coast Maoris, two tribes which are distantly related. Most of the work will be done by one of the country’s leading carvers, Mr John Taiapa and the director of the Canterbury Museum (Dr. R. Duff) will act as adviser.