Gift Returned

Te Ao Hou, 1972, Page 25

Gift Returned National Publicity Studios photographs The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon. Duncan MacIntyre, receiving the mat and cloak from Mr Mapu Morehu and his sister Ema. In April 1970, when the Hon. Duncan MacIntyre opened the carved meeting house, ‘Houmai-Tawhiti’ at Oraramarae on Lake Rotoiti, he was presented with a woven floormat and a valuable cloak with panels of kiwi feathers and taniko weaving. When Mr Mapu Morehu handed over the cloak, he said it was a valuable one belonging to his sub-tribe, Ngati Hinekura, and could be worn only by chiefs. The cloak was started by Mr Morehu's mother, Mere Ngahuia, and finished by his sister, Mrs Ema Ruihi Kawana Williams. It was always used by the leaders of the Morehu family, and was used during the funeral ceremonies for Mr Morehu's mother, his brother, and for Major Rei Vercoe. In accepting the gift, Mr MacIntyre said he was aware that treasures such as the cloak were handed round, and eventually came back to the donor. Such an occasion came much sooner than anybody expected, when Mr Morehu died suddenly early this year. Mr MacIntyre spoke at the tangi of Mr Morehu's life of service to his people, including 42 years on the Arawa Trust Board, 20 as its deputy chairman, and of his final achievement— overseeing the restoration of ‘Houmai-Tawhiti’-and said as he returned the cloak, ‘You gave me this cloak Mapu, but you need it now.’ Mr MacIntyre returns the cloak at Mapu Morehu's tangi