Sir Apirana accepted most of these findings, but was anxious to find out the ultimate origin of the carving schools. In this essay, he puts forward the theory that originally there were not two Maori carving styles, but only one and he thought that the common centre lay somewhere between Whakatane and the East Coast. Here a tribe of Toi blood appears to have made carvings in the 14–16th, century in a style from which nearly all known Maori carving in New Zealand has been derived and this parent style would have been close to the styles described by Dr Archey for Northland, Taranaki and Hauraki, Northern carving died in the stone age, retaining most of its original characteristics while the Bay of Plenty-East Coast style was still alive at the time steel tools were introduced. It is likely that until then Eastern carving was in many respects fairly close to Northern. Steel tools brought to Eastern carving the burst of ornamentation by which it is distinguished to-day. Sir Apirana Ngata's essay puts forward this theory with a wealth of proof from old chants and traditions. Much of this will be new to the student, even though since 1936 many new facts have been uncovered showing a far greater variety of Maori carving styles than was then assumed to exist. The general reader will be fascinated to follow the workings of the great leader's mind and absorb some of his deep understanding of the essence of Maori culture. Sir Apirana Turupa Ngata (S. P. Andrew Photo)

Ancient Northern and Western Carving has a Ngati Awa origin When I visited Panguru, Hokianga, last November I met Ngakuru Pene Haare, who is an authority on the traditions and Maori lore of the North. I asked him whether he knew who made the Burial Chests found at Waimamaku. He told me that in Hapakuku Moetara's view these were not the work of the Ngapuhi proper, but of an older people, the Ngati Awa. This confirmed my own impression after various visits to the North and after reading about the various finds there, at Waitara and at Thames, and relating these to the pas in the Mangonui, North and South Hokianga and Bay of Islands—that there was a connection between the pa builders and the carvers. Recently I became interested in the carvings and meeting house architecture of Taranaki in order to determine how the Rotorua School should set about carving the slabs for the Waitara House. It is certain that the carved houses of the Northern and Western districts were destroyed in the Maori Wars of the early part of the last century, though some carvings were hidden in the swamps. The art was then lost, but some of the chiefs sought to reconstruct it. Two old men—between 75 and 80 years of age—told me yesterday of a carved house at Puniho, which they remembered seeing as children. They remembered one feature of the tekoteko at the base of the poutokomanawa—named Rua Taranaki—its very large phallus. But they reluctantly admitted that the whakairo was brought from Tairawhiti. I had been prepared for this, as in other respects (the Io cult, Whare Wananga teachings, etc.). I have seen strong evidence Wanganui district. The old men of Taranaki have no tradition of carvings having come in the Aotea Canoe, and think that only the Ati-Awa (Ngati-Awa) of the Waitara District had a knowledge of the art.

A close Ancestral connection exists between Ngati Awa and the tribes of the East Coast and Bay of Plenty I have followed the faint trail of tradition from the Poverty Bay and East Coast districts to Te Kaha, Whakatane and Rotorua. The genealogical evidence with the assistance of fragments of songs and karakia and patchy traditions would appear to associate the art with the pre-Takitimu folk of