The practical use of adzing, so common among the Maori, before and after the arrival of the Pakeha, firstly in the stone and greenstone period, then in the iron adze introduced by the Pakeha, was believed to have been lost about the year 1930. What little was known and practised by them was of a very low order, for the adzing was only confined to odd and infrequent jobs at rare intervals. This was brought about by the milling industry, the erection by Pakeha builders of homes, halls and even meeting houses. The old Maori craftsman's mana had so deteriorated in this direction, that his tools of trade, of which the adze is the most dominant, soon became obsolete and added to the decline in the erection and carving of meeting houses, and the art of adzing was soon neglected and finally ceased to have a place in community centres or pas. Thus, what little was known and practised was of very small value as there was no scope for an expert, but when the School of Maori Arts and Crafts was established in Rotorua in 1929 for the teaching and reintroduction of Arts and Crafts among the tribes of New Zealand, under the personal drive vision and enthusiasm of the late Sir Apirana Ngata, and after two carved meeting houses were launched by the students, the results achieved did not have the full desired effect of the rounded and flowing lines of the old masters and experts, especially when greater relief was to be desired. This was brought about because the use of the paring chisel only shaped out in relief the different portions of the form of the figure desired, and this was found to be laborious and tedious. For instance, with chisel only it took eight weeks to carve a panel ten feet long by two feet wide by eight inches thick, whereas with the knowledge of adzing, the same panel only took eight days; the width of a chisel for this work would be an inch and a half, while that of an adze five inches. By the end of 1929 it became apparent to Sir Apirana that an expert on adzing should be found and his te whakairo i te kaha rawa o te tapuku mai ki waho. Tuatoru: Te whakatu o te kape, kia wehi ai te manana o nga whatu; mutu atu ki te paka o te arero. Matakitaki atu ana ki nga tohutohu a Apirana, me te ui o te ngakau, i takea mia nga tirohanga a tenei tangata i a wai? Ka haere atu i a matau, kotahi tonu te whakatau a nga kaiako o te kura, maku e rapu te matauranga o te mau toki kapu a, i te mea ka tata tonu te Kirihimete, haere tonu atu au ki te kimi i tenei taonga. Kimihanga i te tohunga mau toki Kapukapu i te Tairawhiti Ina te wahi o tetahi waiata pirangi naku i mua tata atu o tenei wa, e whakahua ana au i au e arahi haere ana i taku whao i runga o te whakairo,” “To Toki e hika ko Nui te rangiora, To toki e hika ko Te Atua Hemata. To toki e hika ko Te Rokuroku-a-Tawhaki” Ka tae au ki taku kainga ki Tikitiki ka korero au ki aku matua, ki aku tipuna hoki, ki te whakahau a Apirana ki au, ka ui au me timata au ki whea kainga, ki a wai tangata renei. Ko te whakautu kaore ratau e mohio kei a wai e pupuri ana te mau o tenei momo toki i te riu o Waiapu nei, tena pea kei nga tangata o Te Aowera, kei a te Whanau-a-Iri ranei, kei a Te Whanau-a-Rua ranei, kei a Te Aitanga a Hauiti ranei, kei roto ranei o Turanga, kei raro ranei kei te Whanau-a-Apanui; no te mea i te mutunga atu o te mahi whare perana, tarai atamira hoki, ka mutu atu te kite i nga tangata mau toki kapukapu. Tirotiro noa ana te whakaaro me haere ki whea, me kite i a wai; ko te rohe whanui tenei o Ngatiporou ka homai nei hei haerenga maku. Parihi i roto o Turanga, ki Tarakeha, ki Torere, a ko te nuingao tenei rohe ma runga hoiho haere ai.
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