MAORI MIGRATION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19371, 8 July 1937, Page 14

MAORI MIGRATION

ARTIST’S PAINTING DIFFERENT CONCEPTION TRADITION AND HISTORY That the Maori conception of the migration to New Zealand differs by some degree from European ideas of this great event is the conclusion arrived at after a glimpse of an oil painting by Mr. Oriwa T. Haddon, Wanganui, depicting a unit of the migration about to land after the long cruise from sunny Hawhaiki. Perhaps the only Maori artist in New Zealand, Mr. Haddon painted this picture for the Government Publicity Department, and based' It on information from the elders of his tribe during his boyhood days in Taranaki. The picture is one of a series dealing with the traditions and history of the Maori race.

The main point in which the painting differs from European illustrations is the state of physical condition of the migrants, whom other artists have depicted as being either in the last stages of emanciation, or bloated and fat.

■-• Mr- Haddon’s opinion is - that ‘the Maoris* bore *with them sufficient food and water for the journey and therefore he has painted them in the best of condition, without any ill-effects from the voyage. The vessel in the painting is a double canoe with deck and sail, a type which experts state could have made the trip in a fortnight with a fair wind. Inclusion Of Dog Another variation is that the clothing worn by the Maoris is of “tapa” cloth, and not flax or feathers, which were foreign to them until they landed in their new habitation. In accordance with Maori history, which affirms that these animals were used as food, and sacrifices on the Tuahu (altar), a dog is included in Mr. Haddon’s painting. When the migrants left on their cruise their destination was “in the lap of the gods,” and accordingly the artist has woven into his picture the story of the gods so loved by the ancient Maori. The canoes, hollowed from tree trunks, are reminders of the great Tane (God of Forests) and .the sail of Tawhiriniatea (God of 'WTnds). The warriors themselves are symbolical of the god of the old Maori Tumatauenga, God of War and Father of Man. In order to assist the oarsmen to turn the vessel shoreward to the chosen landing place, an old tohunga priest waves a ceremonial axe and invokes Tawhirimatea to direct his winds into the Half-raised sail. With his other hand he pleads to Tangaroa (God of the Ocean) to abate the waters. In the body of the boat an old woman sings a chant to the old land —the great Hawhaiki of yesterday. Next to her stands a younger woman, with a baby in her arms, wondering what the future will hold for the younger generation in the new land. A look-out man in the bow '> studies the coastline intently and an old man nearby guards the punga (anchor). .Opposite this old man stands a strapping youth with his gaze fixed stejadily down at the anchor rope, symbolical of the lasting Maori tradition that the younger generation look to .their elders as the anchor of everything pertaining to Maori wisdom, life and welfare.