Auckland Museum blog

Tangonge … the karanga, keening calls of women opened the threshold for us to step into the ancestral meeting house at Pukepoto in Kaitaia where we were greeted by elders, the children of the school and departed whanau members whose photos line the walls.

Mihi King, Tehei Deanna Tamaariki, Roy Clare, and Haare Williams.

You know there are moments in life when one can set aside as “ … I was there,” and Tuesday  in Kaitaia has to be one of those moments in life for me.  Call it serendipity or by any other name it still smells and feels like magic. First, Albert Walters sat between Roy Clare and myself; he was introduced as the grandson of the man attributed to ‘finding’ Tangonge, further more Dr Bruce Gregory and Hekenukumai Busby (kaumatua) pointed us in the direction of the discovery back in 1921.

Tangonge at Pukepoto Marae

Dr. Bruce Gregory, Roy Clare and Haare Williams.

This was followed by the grand entry into Te Ahu, The Kaitaia Heritage Centre as it prepares the taonga for the official opening this Saturday.  The other stand out has to be the perfectionism of our staff as they worked late into a long night, just to get a tiny beam of light in the right spot to catch the spirit and antiquity of a taonga come home.

Haare Williams offers a karakia to the group prior to the install of Tangonge at the Te Ahu, The Kaitaia Heritage Centre.

In all of these settings, reverence radiated around Tangonge, the kind or radiance that, apart from pulling communities together,  will inspire mokopuna, rangatahi and a community to come.  It’s journey continues …

Hoki atu e te taonga, hoki atu ki to kainga tuturu.  Haere atu ra.

http://www.northlandage.co.nz/

Despite the constant stress of deadlines, exhibits to mount, enquiries to be answered, research to be done and taonga to be carefully housed there is one activity we do that never fails to uplift and inspire us as museum staff.  It is an honour to work at the Auckland Museum and this is always made so apparent to us when we get to witness and be close to taonga that have graced this land for centuries.  This morning before all the hustle and bustle that is the School Holidays descended upon us, and with only the low hum of the cleaner’s vacuum as background noise, we witnessed the careful demounting of Tangonge.

Tangonge casts a shadow in the gallery this morning prior to be demounted.

Display and Collection Technicians Ged Wiren and Wayne Ferguson removing the carving from the case.

This taonga, more commonly referred to as the Kaitaia carving, is currently being prepared for a visit to its ancestral home in the Far North. The carving is spending a year at the Te Ahu Heritage centre in Kaitaia under the care of Te Rarawa iwi and will return in autumn 2013.

Tangonge is probably one of the oldest carvings in New Zealand.   It was made only a few hundred years after the settlement of Aotearoa/New Zealand between the 14th and 16th centuries.   It is a hugely important carving that shows a phase in the development of Māori art from its origins in Polynesian styles.

The carving was rediscovered in 1920, hidden in the swampy waters of Lake Tangonge, near Kaitaia, when the lake was drained. Its importance was quickly recognised.

While its style strongly resembles carvings of the kind seen in the Pacific galleries, several of its features also show the beginnings of the unique Māori art that developed in Aotearoa.

The return of the carving to the Far North is recognition of the bond this taonga forges between the Auckland Museum as its custodian, the people of Te Rarawa, its spiritual guardians, and Te Ahu Heritage.

As our Pae Arahi, Haare Williams said after karakia this morning there was only one word to describe our task this morning and that was mana.  It is our privilege to be the kaitiaki for Tangonge and other taonga in our care and while it can be exciting to witness these activities this job also comes with enormous responsibilities.   Our greatest responsibility now is to prepare this taonga for its journey home to the north to connect with its ancestral home and to continue to empower and inspire present day descendants.

Heike Winkelbauer (Conservator) discussing the carving with Haare Williams (Pae Arahi). Janneen Love (Exhibition Developer) and Bethany Edmunds (Lifelong Learning Educator) looking on.

It was a interesting ride with Alert Taxi yesterday morning as I headed to pick up our car for the second wave of staff going north to Ngāpuhi’s heartland. Mr Edmonds, my driver, was telling his stories of his trips to Northland and connecting back to his family of early settlers. His great, great, great, (great?) Grandfather had helped build the original stone store in Paihia, and also lay the stone for the first printing press! In a round about way he went on to say that his family (from the UK), went on to settle into the community very well…we should expect to see a few of his family up at #Ngapuhi2012. The story evolved and we drove straight pass our stop…….I expect that will be an indication of the festival itself, interesting stories, interesting connections, worthwhile distractions.

Carlin, Jeff and Amelia depart Auckland Museum for the Ngāpuhi Festival

The forecast was excellent for the weekend, but we arrived in the wind and rain and decided that set up would be best deferred to the morning, instead we decided to go and spend some time with the taonga in the Toi Ngāpuhi exhibition. It would be fair to say that our taonga was in some pretty amazing company, surrounding by some of Northlands very talented artists (including our very own Bethany Matai Edmunds). We met two of the artists (Will and Whiu) sitting with the ‘papahou’ on loan from Auckland Museum to keep it company. As we talked he wiped the glass case clean….someone had hongi’d the case. I suspect it was him after observing him sitting so close, and hearing him talk of the priviledge of being able to see it up close and around it.

Dot, Kirk, Jeff, Carlin and Bethany arrive to a wet Kaikohe for Ngāpuhi 2012

We had a lot of conversations about the role of artists and museums to build, value and acknowledge trditional knowledge (matauranga). Allen Wihongi and Bethany Edmunds were busy debating this surrounded by museum taonga and artists exhibition pieces, preparing for the discussion at the wananga later on Saturday.

Discussions between Auckland Museum (Bethany Edmunds), Ngapuhi runanga (Allen Wihongi) and artist Rhonda Halliday

We got our team photo in front of the Atamira, the first time one has been built (up north?) for over a hundred years, and a symbol for this years festival, and then headed to Waitangi/Paihia for our briefing and dinner at Shippies.

I have plenty of photos that capture the moments……

Tāwhiao was born in 1822 at Orongokoekoea Pā near Taumarunui. His father, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, was the leader of the Waikato people and was eventually installed as the first Māori King in 1858. The Kingitanga, or Maori King movement as it became known, was advocated by a number of tribes to help promote unity among Māori in the face of growing aggression by the Colonial Government. It became centred in the Waikato region.

King Tāwhiao. Josiah Martin photo. Auckland War Memorial Museum 15400

Tāwhiao ascended the throne when his father passed away in 1860 and led the Kingitanga for the next 34 years. Barely three years into his reign, the Colonial Government invaded the Waikato, forcing Tāwhiao and his people to retreat into what is now known as the King Country. Ultimately almost a million acres (4,000 km²) of Waikato land was confiscated.

Denied a fair hearing in New Zealand, Tāwhiao and a contingent of chiefs travelled to London to seek an audience with Queen Victoria. They hoped to persuade her to enforce the Treaty of Waitangi and to arrange for the return of the confiscated land. Somewhat predictably, the party was refused the audience, with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Derby, refusing to take any responsibility for the actions of the Colonial Government. There was a similar attitude back in New Zealand where the Premier, Robert Stout, asserted that all events prior to 1863 were the responsibility of the Imperial Government.

Disillusioned and with nowhere to turn, Tāwhiao then focused on developing initiatives to promote the independence and welfare of his people – but without Government backing and with diminishing iwi support from outside of the Waikato tribal area, he became marginalized and the Kingitanga’s influence decreased considerably.

Little information is recorded on Museum records for the cloak. But what we do know from the notes is that Tāwhiao was photographed during his visit to England wearing the cloak, and sometime after his return to New Zealand he gave the cloak to a Mr. Burt.  Burt subsequently sold the cloak to the Auckland Museum in 1897.