“She felt as if an earthquake shook her to make her go to the beloved of her heart.” There is an old Maori proverb that says: “Ka tangi te koauau, te kanakana te hae.” (When the koauau is heard the jealous eye is on the watch.)

SONGS WERE MAGIC In their desire to control forces they did not fully understand primitive peoples the world over have invented various forms of magic to bring about all kinds of desired effects. The magic rites of the priest, the tohunga, the witch doctor or the medicine-man have taken the form of incantations, charms, spells or ritual songs by the aid of which those tribal leaders claimed to control the weather, the growth of crops, to cure the sick, to foretell the future, to bring success in war, hunting or fishing and to break the spell of evil spirits. Very rigid rules had to be observed in the performance of magic rites to make sure that the charm or spell would work. This secret power was not entirely “phoney”, to use a popular expression. Behind the “hocus pocus” of many magic rites there existed a fund of good psychology, intuition, acquired and even occult knowledge. [The effect of such binding rites on the musical culture of a tribe or race was to hold it static for long periods at a time. The only possibility of change would lie in a major revolution in ways of living and thinking such as overtook the ancient Maori culture at the coming of the white settlers to New Zealand, 150 years ago.] It will be seen from this brief discussion that a primitive musical culture can only be judged by its power to express the racial character and way of life of the people who have created it. One of the early Pacific explorers who accompanied Captain Cook on his second voyage to the South Seas saw the intimate relationship between the racial character and temperament of the Maori people and its expression in the emotional language of their music. “The taste of the New Zealanders for Music,” wrote Forster, “and their superiority in this respect to other nations of the South Seas, are to me stronger proof in favour of their hearts than all the idle eloquence of philosophers can invalidate.”

The decorating of the Maori room at the Tokomaru Bay District High School became an opportunity for the local women to revive the ancient art of tukutuku. This article describes how the tukutuku panels were made and also describes the various patterns common in East Coast tukutuku, illustrated by photographs. The mixture of ancient and modern designs is fascinating and shows the art is still developing. TUKUTUKU AT TOKOMARU BAY by Mrs B. L. TURNER Tukutuku, or lattice work, is used to line Maori meeting houses and similar public buildings. It can be seen throughout New Zealand, and there are many fine examples of this form of decoration on the East Coast. One such is the “Maori Room” at the Tokomaru Bay District High School which was completed last year. This is a small room, in which examples of Maori Art have been gathered. The walls have been covered by panels of tukutuku which are held in place by borders carved and painted by Mr Pine Taiapa. Members of the Maori people of Tokomaru Bay spent many months in the creation of the tukutuku panels. Essentially group work, many people gave their time and labour to the task. When the weaving began, women spent all day and up to midnight in the old manual block at the work. Meals were prepared and eaten in the kitchen there so that as little time as possible should be lost. Lively interest was taken in the work by all sections of the community, and many Europeans and visitors to the school have expressed great admiration for the beauty of the finished panels. The preparation of the materials used took at least six months and was the most laborious part of the work. The leaves of the native kiekie, which is a parasitic plant growing usually on other trees or on cliffs, were cut from the roots, each leaf separately. Running down the leaf are central ribs, and it is this part only that is used in tukutuku. The green part on either side was cut off and though