RARE RELICS OF A VANISHING RACE

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVII, Issue 1, 3 January 1912, Page 24

RARE RELICS OF A VANISHING RACE

All i h.i. u .1- u cp >l. gi Im. uml f.-iiilust le ill I be mt I Imlugy to him it wtrn theology- of the <>!i|-tjme Mimi’l was embodied in the carvings with which he ornamented ids Wliarermianga < meet Ing-house) or his Pataka (storehouse!, lust as the old-time Pakeha lavished all his -.kill amt art m the adornment of the fane where lie worshipped Ids Hod. The veneral ion of Hie Maori for these works of art they were Ids only pictures as well ns Ids only books - is evidenced by the history of these richly ieulpt ured slabs of totara. < arved long i"; 1,11 1,1 Zealand, with the rude Inst riinieiits the native artist could fashion from stone, obsidian, or bone, they were once part of a famous pataka in the Bay of Plenty, and belonged to the Ngat Iporoii tribe, who were in '' ll ' 1,11 " ■* fioin tin* wailike Ngapuhi, the inhabitant** of the Bay of Islands and surrounding country. When tin* bloodthirsty Northerners came down four hundred strong In their fleet of war eamcs, armed with muskets, a new ;ind deadly lll,l ’••'■••"tly obtained from th.- Pakeha, tin* N’gatlporoii dismantled their most precious possession, the storied pat aka, and burled the slabs in the sand in a cave. Perhaps the tribe was decimated, but at all events the -.* I'.-t of th,, hidden i" 'i. 1 * «•' °V’ ■ ,llll * l " ;ls ,l "? until about twenty years ago that tin* boards were miea rt hed. some worn ■’into wrecks by T imc's ungentle hand." but the rest w o:ide rfully well-preserved, some of the most delicate tracery being almost as sharp a- the ' ‘*aml of th.* cunning aiti<. I he intricately carved piece at the top of the page was one of the bargeboards, tin* heavy one in tin* middle was the door piece, and the other slabs belonged to tin- front of the house. good idea of tin- style of *’ I'•' l^' 1 "kuh these reli« were a part can be gathered from the picture at the foot. Some of the carved slabs arc fifteen feet long, and three feet wide, and the amount of time and patience neresrutry to redme the growing tree to fhe-e weird but beautifully finished carvings is staggering In these days of rush.