WAR CANOE BUILDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21548, 20 July 1933, Page 15

WAR CANOE BUILDING

MAORI CRAFTSMANSHIP ' _ \ SKILL AND INGENUITY The infinite labour and the skill and ingenuity that went to the construction of an old-time Maori war canoe v/erc described and illustrated by Miss 0. Rutherford last evening at a largelyattended meeting of the anthropology and Maori race section of the Auckland Institute. She left her hearers with fresh admiration for the powers and abilities of the Maori race and a new appreciation for the masterpieces of their handicraft now to be seen only in museums.

The building of a wakataua or war canoe, she said, was a task not undertaken without much forethought and preparation. The wood most commonly chosen was totara, and so valuable were suitable trees selected for the pur-* pose that they were often the cause of bloodshed. Karakia were uttered over the living trees to improve them, and it was said that human sacrifices were sometimes burned at their roots. The workers engaged on the building of the canoe became tapu at tho beginning of the work and remained sj until its completion. Desecration by the approach of a woman or a child would liave caused the canoe, in whatever stage of construction, to be abandoned. 'J he work was begun with a stone adze about IB inches in length swung by several men, and after two grooves had been made, the wood between them was chipped out with an ordinary adze. Fire was lighted in the scarf, and when the wood had become charred the charcoal was chipped out and the process repeated. Many ingenious methods of leverage were applied to the fallen log when it had been stripped of blanches. Tufts of white feathers of the gannet, fastened in tne lashings, formed an effective decoration and accentuated the graceful lines of the craft, ihe prow'and stern posts, with the rhythm and grace of line that made them marvels of artistry, took years to carve from a block of seasoned wood. After the painting had been completed the canoe was ready for the ceremonial launching presided over by a tohunga. About 20 members of the Boys Ethnology Club were present and under the direction of Mr. V. I'. I'isher gave a most interesting demonstration of various methods of drilling in use among Maoris and other • primitive peoples. The boys used implements for the most part made by themselves, but tipped with genuine Maori stone drill points. The boys were warmly applauded for their handling of tho somewhat difficult tools.