SKULL ON ROCK
Maori Feelings Offended (N.Z. Press Association) KAJTAIA, Aug. 14. The Aupouri tribe living in the peninsula stretching to the farthest north is annoyed at the placing of an ancient human skull on the Mangonui bluff, the rocky outcrop which is the best fishing spot on the Ninety Mile Beach It is not under the direct jurisdiction of the Crown but is part of the Parengarenga development block. An elder said this morning that the tribe had in the past been offended by visitors wasting fish by catching more than could be taken away and destroying mussel beds but had not done more than protest at these violations of fishing tapu and customs. “However, this latest piece of stupidity offends our deepest feelings,” he said. “It was probably put up by someone as a silly joke but the tribal feeling is that there must have been desecration of a burial place among the sandhills and that it is also an insult to the local people.” Last night the skull was still on the rock. From its size it may be that of a man and it is probably one of the many which are exposed by shifting sand on ancient battle fields and burial grounds.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CI, Issue 29901, 15 August 1962, Page 17
Word Count
207SKULL ON ROCK Press, Volume CI, Issue 29901, 15 August 1962, Page 17
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