MAORI TRADITION?

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 September 1933, Page 10

MAORI TRADITION?

KURUNGAITUKU AND HATUPATU. A beautiful example of Maori art is to be seen in a. trophy which, has been presented to the Rotorua Basketball Association by the advancement committee of the Rotorua Borough Council. It depicts two figures on a pedestal, holding aloft a large bowl. Three air cient carving systems, known to the Maori as Koreru, Manaia and Wheku, are represented in the work. On the figures are .-decorative designs of Te-ika-Maui and Pitu. On their faces is the ancient moko or tattoo (female), and the other parts of the design, thfe wholb being embellished with sparkling paua shell inlay. Whatever the pakeha may christen the trophy, to. the Maori it will always be ‘‘Kurungaituku,” a legendary Maori Woman of great renown. To make the' analogy complete, the wood' from which it is carved was miljed from forests at Moroa, the' legendary domain of Kurupgaituku, near Taupo. The whole of the designing and carving was carried, out by Mr. Pine Taipa, under the direction of Mr H. Hamilton, at the Maori Arts and Crafts School at Ohinemutu. It stands 30iri. in height, weighs 401 b., and is insured for £5O.

The story of Kurungaituku is one that is often quoted at Maori gatherings, and has as its setting the beautiful forests surrounding Moroa, near Taupo, where she had her great forest home, and Rotorua, where she met her death amidst the boiling cauldrons at Whakarewarewa. Kurungaituku was a. noted huntress of the forests e and mountain ranges, and harboured in her home many tame animals and beautiful birds as pets. She was no ordinary woman. Shp was gifted with the speed of the swiftest athlete, and wings, upon her arms enabled her to skim across the numerous valleys, of the domain. Feathered game fell an easy .prey to her, as she was able to entice and spear them with her lips.

It was on one such occasion, when she was about to spear a forest bird, that Hatupatu, a young Arawa chief from Mokoia Island, who was also on a hunting expedition, threw his wTooden spear at the same bird. His spear missed his objective, but impaled itself upon Kurungaituku’s lips. When Hatupatu saw this, he ran off with all his speed, but he was soon caught by the woman, and so he joined her other pets in her forest home. Hatupatu found that this woman never ate anything but raw food, and she gave birds to Hatupatu to eat without their being in any way dressed, but he only pretended to eat them by lifting them up to his mouth and letting them drop slyly. TREASURES OF THE CAVE. At dawn the woman prepared' to go and spear birds, but Hatupatu always remained at home, and when she had departed he began to cook food for himself and to admire all the things in the huge rock cave that the woman lived in. At the two-handed wooden sword he looked, with its wonderfully carved hilt, at her beautiful cloak made of red feathers torn from under the wing of the kaka, at her cloak of thick dog’s fur, at her ornamental cloak woven from flax, and all the time he kept thinking how he could run off with them. Then he looked at the various tame little birds, and at all her many curious possesisons, and thus lie. went on, day after day, until

at last one day he said- ter her: “Now you had better go a long- distance today’,'to 'the'first mountain range, to the second mountain range, the thousandth mountain range, and when you get there then begin to catch birds for us two.’ To this she consented, and went. . And he brandished the , two-handed sword‘'and made cuts at the lizards and at all the tame animals, and they were soon killed. Then he struck at the perch on which the little pet birds sat, and killed them all but one, a tiny, Hpbriro (grey warbler), which escaped, ttnd.it flew away to woman td' wiom they alhbelonged;- And as the (ittle. bird flew along, -there , are the ward‘d it .kept singing; “CHKurungait.uku‘,' our home is; ruined/’ our things are 3 all'destroyed,” Afid so it kept singing until it liad'flown .a very long wayf'' At lai't'Kurungaituku heard it; and said, “By whom is all this done?” And the little bird'answered, “By Hatupatu; everything is gone.” ."PURSUIT OF HATUPATU. Then Kurungaituku made haste to get home again, and as she went' along she kept on calling out, *“Step out, stretch-, along, step out,-;, stretch, along. There you are, O Hatupatu, not far from me. There you age, O Hatupatu; not far from me ndw.v She only made three strides before she reached her home, and when she. looked about Shp could see nothing i it, but the little bird still guided her on, as she kept saying, “Step out', stretch along—step out, stretch along. ,I’ll catch you there now, Hatupatu'”'And she almost caught Hatupatu, who had reached Atiamuri, and he thought “I’m done •for now.” So, being gift>l with powers of enchantment; he repeated his charm several times, “O rock, open for me, open.” Then the rock opened, and he hid himself in it. (natupatu’s rock, with its hollow centre, stands at the side of the main road at Atiamuri. Alongside it is an A.A. notice board with the words “Lucky rock.” Fern leaf offerings are placed at the base almost daily by passing seekers of good luck.)

And the woman looked and could not find him. She went, oh to a distance and kept calling out, “I’ll catch you there, Hatupatu; I’ll catch you there, Hatupatu.” And when her voice died away in the distance Hatupatu came out of the rock and made off. And thus they went on until, near Whakarewarewa, Kurungaituku made a grab at him, but missed. (The marks of. her claws are to be seen to-day on a flat rock adjacent to Waipa Flat, near Whakgrewarewa.) Hatupatu finally escaped by crossing amidst the boiling cauldrons at Wha karewarewa, closely followed by Kurungaituku, who, thinking the ground was firm and the springs were cold, stepped out boldly, but sank through the treacherous crust and was scalded to. death.’ • A beautiful carving, depicting Hatupatu swimming Lake Rotorua under water, and one of Kurungaituku standing alongside, embellishes the "front of Rauru, the carved meeting-house at. Whakarewarewa.