REBUILDING THE MARAE

Te Ao Hou, September 1961, Page 36

REBUILDING THE MARAE Mr and Mrs Sam Cotter and Mr Meimei Hamilton, who live close to the house, very kindly told us about its history. They told us that Te Poho o Tamaterangi was designed by a carver called Hukanui. Hukanui was born near Turanga, south of Gisborne. He took part in the carving of a number of houses, especially the famous old house ‘Te Whai a te Motu’, near Ruatahuna. He died in 1922. But though Hukanui designed Te Poho o Tamaterangi, it was built by local people. Everyone helped in the work, whether with the carpentry, the tukutuku, the painting and carving, or with making mats for the floor. A few years ago it was decided that the Rangiahua marae needed a dining hall. To help raise the money for this, its owners sold a block of land near Gisborne, called Tahora. So the name of the dining hall is Tahora, and a very fine building it is. It has excellent kitchens, and a large hall which is also used sometimes for dances. Then the meeting-house was rebuilt and repainted. Its owners collected money to do this, and the government provided a subsidy, as it also had for the dining hall. This time there were people specially employed to do the work, but again many of the local people helped in their spare time, and the ladies made tukutuku and mats. Mr and Mrs Cotter were two of the people who helped in this way. It is wonderful to see how carefully the original paintings have been re-painted, for it must have been very difficult to do this. The dining hall was opened in 1956 and the meeting-house in 1958.