GIANT WAR CANOE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21576, 12 February 1940, Page 10

GIANT WAR CANOE

HOME AT WAITANGI By Telegraph—Press Association AUCKLAND. February 10 The giant war canoe, Nga-Toki-Matawhaorua, which .has presented a magnificent spectacle at the centennial celebrations at the Bay of Islands, is to remain at Waitangi and be a companion to the whare-runanga, or carved council house, erected by the Maori people to commemorate the generous gift of the Waitangi Estate to the nation by Lord and Lady Bedisloe. Thus was the unanimous decision of the northern tribes assembled in conference at Waitangi, and was in the nature of a gesture of loyalty to the British Crown and the Empire, with continued gratitude for Lord Bledisloe’s gift and in appreciation of the interest shown in the Maori people by Lord and Lady Galway.

The tribes decided at Waitangi that the canoe paddles and costumes for its crew be handed over for safe custody to the Waitangi National Trust Board to hold in perpetuity, subject only to the title or ownership remaining in the northern tribes. However, the canoe is to be available for the use of tribes on important ceremonial occasions, and when not in use will be stored in a special building of Maori design to be erected close to the whare-runanga.

Carefully preserved, it should remain there for hundreds of years as a perfect example of Polynesian culture and Maori naval art. The canoe was built forests, and wholly with northern forests, and wholly with northern money.