MAORI HISTORY

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 20, 18 October 1941, Page 10

MAORI HISTORY

Story Illustrated At Dominion Museum

The story of the material culture of the Maori iu New Zealand is to be found in full in the Mauri 1 collection of the Dominion Museum, AVellington. The total collection would occupy a very large area. Taking the representative exhibits of domestic material aud fighting weapons and the fine model of a fortified pa with a village ou one side of it, displayed' in the Maori hall, the average museum visitor can reconstruct the general scene that obtained at Maori settlements iu New Zealand hundreds of years before the coming of Europeans. So numerous is the Maori collection in the museum that only a small and representative part of it, consisting of the best specimens, is on public display. The rest is in the storerooms where it will serve for the study of future generations. In 100 to 200 years authorities estimate, this collection will be priceless. Its present value may be greatly enhanced as a result of war conditions, for it is possible that there will be damage to some famous English aud European museums, which houso line Maori ethnological collections obtained from New Zealand in the days before organized colonization. The British Museum has already suffered damage. The Berlin and Dresden museums, as well as other European museums, have representative collections of Maori material. As a guide to the size of the collection, the adzes number several thousands. The adze.is a stone cutter, the Maori equivalent of the axe, and was used to chop in a vertical manner. It was not swung over a shoulder after axe fashion. The apparent reason was that any stone adze would chip along its edge much more quickly if used like an axe. There are large numbers of common domestic articles such as sandstone polishers, sinkers for fishing lines, rasps of various kinds for sawing stone, aud hooks made from human or moa bones. Also there are many textiles such as cloaks. Only a few of each type of cloak are in the show cases.

The story ot’ tlie Maori, whicti scientists are gradually adding to, is in this material. An example of the studies made from collections is that of Dr. Skinner, Dunedin, who records nis findings in the Polynesian Society Journal. By means of specimens collected from museums throughout New Zealand be lias been able to build up the story of the Maori use of the human figure in the form of amulets. A somewhat similar study on the human figure in Maori carvings is being carried out by the ethnologist of the Dominion Museum,

The lighting weapons of the Maori are represented by some outstanding pieces in the collection. These are divided into two classes, the short or one-handed weapon, and tlie long, or two-handed. There .'ire large numbers of the long weapon, called the taialia, in store, most of them made of manuka. The short weapons belong to the patu class, aud are made of greenstone, stone, bone, and, rarely, of wood.

The Maori of old chose his own particular type. From youth he was taught the value of footwork and speed of movement in lighting, ’the lOhunga would tell his pupil Io watch Hie right Idg toe of his opponent for when Hie la Her intended to deliver a knockout blow he would tend to clench the ground with this toe.