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/

In 1969 North Shore man Stanley Hunt lifted an axe over his shoulder and swung its blade down hard on an old wooden chest. As the casing splintered into shards of kindling, sheaves of paper and parchment fluttered out from a secret compartment that had been exposed by his blows.

Will Ye Marry Me - Click to view transcription

After years of concealment, an odd assortment of papers was revealed, all written in Scotland between 1727 and 1834. Here was a list of accounts, birth and marriage testimonials, rental receipts, details of an annuity and, most peculiar of all, a rhyming advertisement for a wife written by a man in Forfar jail (click on the image on the right for a large version with a transcription).

Whose were these papers? Most of them related to either James Cowie or his son John from Auchterhouse, Angus (Forfarshire), Scotland. One document concerned the Earl of Airlie, David Ogilvy, of Cortachy Castle.

Stan Hunt had found the chest abandoned in a shed when he bought his North Shore property. He contacted the previous owner who said the chest was given to her by her father, but she did not know how he had come by it. Its origins remain a mystery. Stan gave the chest to Motat who passed it on to the Auckland Museum where it is in the care of the manuscript’s librarian Martin Collett.

Martin says secret compartments were fairly common, especially in Scottish chests. It is most likely chest came to New Zealand from Britain in the 19^th century, but there are still other possibilities as well, such as, Nova Scotia in Canada.

The papers tucked away for posterity inside may never have been exposed to the New Zealand sun before Stan Hunt picked up his axe to render an old chest into kindling.

As for whether any woman was so taken by the advertisement, we may never know. If you happen to know anything about the Cowie family in New Zealand or Scotland please let us know.

Picture perfect: a diver stops to take a photo while schools of Blue Maomao swim overhead © M Francis

The team of 13 scientists from Auckland Museum, Te Papa, the Australian Museum, NIWA and the Department of Conservation made some amazing discoveries including species that were new to New Zealand and even new to science.

I think we were knew it was something special when we found ourselves constantly checking our emails for news from the ship. We were very lucky to have science communicator Alison Ballance on the ship, she was able to bring the expedition alive for everyone who was following the blog.

Working with the scientists to communicate what they were finding and being able to share videos and photos of those in near real time was a real privilege. We like to think that for some of the children following the blog it might be the spark that gives them a lifelong passion for science.

It was also a great opportunity for the museum to give the public a firsthand look at some of the research we’re involved in, with our research manager Tom Trnski driving that expedition.

We were thrilled with the way people responded to the blog in May last year and this award is the icing on the cake.
For anyone that followed our blog http://kermadec.aucklandmuseum.com and who is still hankering for a fix from the Kermadecs, you’ll be glad to hear our exhibition team is busy working on a marine exhibition for 2013 where you’ll get to see firsthand some of the incredible discoveries that were made and make some of your own discoveries too.

About a year ago sea slugs like the specimen shown in these videos hit the headlines after they were shown to be responsible for several dog poisonings on Auckland and Coromandel beaches.

Historical specimens from our collections established that the toxicity of Pleurobranchaea maculata is not a new event and in fact, that in Auckland, it has been toxic for at least 16 years.

Discovering toxic sea slugs

In July, August 2009 there was an unexplained spate of dog deaths on Auckland beaches, particularly Narrow Neck and Cheltenham, along with wash-ups of dead marine organisms, such as pilchards, porcupine fish and blue penguins in a wider area.

The deaths co-incided with a drop of brodifacoum poison on Rangitoto Island by the Department of Conservation – part of their pest control programme.

Very quickly a large number of agencies became involved and equally quickly a number of potential causes, including brodifacoum poisoning, were eliminated.

The Cawthron Institute became involved because of their skills in toxicology, particularly of algal bloom events, and there was a slight possibility we were dealing with toxic algae. However, extensive testing failed to pin-point any of the 26 common marine toxins.

Instead Cawthron were able to establish from the testing of a beach-cast grey side-gilled sea slug (Pleurobranchaea maculata) and the stomach contents of two of the dead dogs that a toxin new to New Zealand, tetrodotoxin (TTX), was responsible. The slugs were the carrier.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX)

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is the same toxin as that found in some tropical pufferfish and the Australian blue-ringed octopus, as well as a wide variety of other animal species. It is a neurotoxin, and causes paralysis of the muscles, while leaving the heart and brain relatively unaffected.

One of the muscles TTX affects is the diaphragm and victims usually die of asphyxiation. TTX is deadly even in small doses, and 1-2mg of TTX is enough to kill a 75kg human.

Our little sea slugs contain between 1-8mg of TTX – enough to kill up to 8 adults. They are therefore even more dangerous for children or dogs. For a child it could be fatal just to put their fingers in their mouth after touching a sea slug.

Why are the slugs toxic?

We don’t know why the slugs contain TTX, but it occurs in a wide variety of organisms, for example blue-ringed octopus, the Japanese Fugu pufferfish, toads, some sea stars, and a number of bacteria. In some species, such as the pufferfish there is some evidence the TTX is produced in association with symbiotic bacteria.

Further research by Cawthron Institute, Massey University and Waikato University will look at whether the sea slug is able to manufacture the TTX itself, whether it gets the TTX from its diet, or whether it is produced in association with symbiotic bacteria.

This research will use freshly collected specimens from around New Zealand, historical specimens from Auckland Museum and Museum of Victoria (Australia). It will also try to breed the slugs in captivity.

Have the slugs always been toxic?

Although we don’t yet know if all individuals of the grey side-gilled sea slug are poisonous, in the past year Cawthron Institute has tested freshly collected specimens from Auckland Harbour, Manukau Harbour, the Coromandel west coast and Nelson and all were toxic.

Grey side-gilled sea slug specimens in Auckland Museum’s collections from 1994, 2000 and 2007 tested positive for TTX and show that slugs collected from Auckland Harbour have been toxic since at least 1994. It is therefore highly likely they have always been toxic.

One of our specimens from 1989 (from Stewart Island) tested negative. However, this may have been a false negative – we don’t know yet how stable TTX is in preserved specimens and TTX may be discarded when we replace the alcohol in our specimen jars.

Why didn’t we know it was toxic before?

We weren’t aware about TTX in sea slugs until last year, when MAF Biosecurity reported the unusual cluster of dog deaths for Auckland beaches. This suggests that if there have been any previous dog deaths due to TTX poisoning they have gone under the radar because they were isolated cases. There was simply no reason to test our samples for the toxin before this.

Why are the slugs a problem around this time of year?

Grey side-gilled slugs lay long coils of eggs at the end of winter/start of spring, after which they usually die. The dead slugs often wash up on beaches, particularly with on-shore winds.

At the end of winter, you should keep children and dogs away from the high-tide line, because this is where slugs and slug eggs on seaweeds are washed up. Don’t let them touch or pick up seaweeds or slugs – there is no antidote to the fast-acting toxin these sea slugs innocently carry.

If you would like to know more about the sea slugs, feel free to ask me a question in the comments below or read more on our website.

Bees symbolise industry and persistence. In that way they can be compared with what we observe of Library users. Usually we see them as industrious pursuers of knowledge. What we do not observe until much later is the rich sweet product – the thesis, the book, the article, the television series, the exhibition.

Our Museum Library is one such beehive. And the honey produced by our researchers comes in flavours of local and natural history, genealogy, anthropology, art, medicine and more.

We are mostly familiar with the honey and bumble bees (the social bees), but did you realise there are at least 28 native bee species?

We have been farming bees in New Zealand from at least the early 1840s. Missionary William Charles Cotton wrote A manual for New Zealand bee keepers in 1848 and in the following year it was published in Maori as Ko nga pi.

Another missionary, Richard Taylor, noted 60 hives at the Paihia mission station in 1848. These had been created by Mrs Williams and she gave Taylor one to take one back to Wanganui. He describes the reaction of a local Maori mission teacher in his journal held in the Museum Library’s manuscript collection.

Here is a small selection of honey oriented recipes from New Zealand cookbooks, which I found when preparing for a recent Library tour for Kai to Pie. You will be brave to attempt the first 120 year old recipe for Honey Wine, but the Honey-Ginger cookies sound very pleasant.

Discovering Library resources using bees as a key

Honey Wine [1891]

To 10 gallons of water put 10lb of honey and 1/4 lb of good hops, boil for 1 hour, and when cooled to the warmth of new milk, ferment with yeast spread on toast. Let it stand in a tub for 2 days, then put it into a cask. It will be fit to bottle in 9 months. Honey a year old is better for the purpose than new.

from: The New Zealand cookery book and colonial household guide, compiled to suit New Zealand by a Colonial (1891)

Pear and Honey Compote [1952]

Serves 3-4

Ingredients: Pears; lemon; honey; golden syrup; arrowroot; raisins; nuts

Step (1) Halve and core 1 lb pears – they need not be peeled. Cook in ¾ cup water until soft. Add the juice and grated rind of 1 small lemon. If the stems of the pears are added while cooking, the flavour is improved – but remove them before serving.

(2) Lift pears out with a slotted spoon and place in a dish. To the syrup in the saucepan add 1½ tablesp. Honey and 1 tablesp. Golden syrup. Mix 1 ½ level teasp. Arrowroot with about 2 teasp. Water and stir in. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thick. Taste and add more honey if not sweet enough.

(3) Pour over the pears in the dish. Fill the hollows with raisins and chopped nuts.

from: The hostess cook book by Helen M Cox (1952). Helen Cox was a popular New Zealand broadcaster and who worked during the war as a cookery demonstrator for Auckland Electric Power Board.

Honey Fruit Salad [1964]

Quantities for 4.
4oz honey (4 Tbs)
½ Tbs lemon juice
¼ pint water (½ cup)

Dissolve the honey in the water and add the lemon juice.

8oz dessert apples (2 medium)
2oz chopped walnuts (¼ cup)
4oz chopped dates (½ cup)

Peel and core the apples and cut into small dice. Add to the syrup at once. Add the dates and nuts and mix well. Chill before serving.

from: Pears family cookbook by Bee Nilson (1964). Mrs A R (Bee) Nilson was born and trained in New Zealand. She moved to England in 1936 and in 1964 was Senior Lecturer in nutrition at the Northern Polytechnic, London.

Honey-Ginger Cookies [1968]

4oz butter
½ cup honey
½ sugar
1 egg
1 ¾ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ cup chopped walnuts

Melt the butter and allow it to cool. Stir into the butter the honey, sugar and lightly beaten egg.

Sift the flour, baking powder and ginger into the honey mixture.

Stir in the nuts and mix thoroughly.

Drop in spoonfuls onto a greased oven tray, allowing space for spreading.

Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen.

from: Tui Flower’s cookbook by Tui Flower (1968)

Honey Buttered Beets [1974]

M McLew, Kennington

Serves: 4

2 cups cooked diced beetroot
1 cup beetroot juice
2-3 tablespoons honey
1½ teaspoons cornflour
2 tablespoons lemon juice or vinegar
1½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter

Heat beetroot and juice thoroughly.

Add honey. Blend cornflour and lemon juice to a smooth paste.

Add to the beetroot with salt and butter. Simmer for five minutes.

Serve as accompaniment to cold roast lamb, silverside, pickled pork or ham salads.

from: The N Z radio and television cookbook by Alison Holst (1974)

Enjoy!

]]> http://blog.aucklandmuseum.com/2010/08/honey-recipes-from-the-library/feed/ 0 http://blog.aucklandmuseum.com/2010/08/pou-whakarae/ http://blog.aucklandmuseum.com/2010/08/pou-whakarae/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:33:36 +0000 Syd Kirby http://blog.aucklandmuseum.com/?p=942

Maua ko pou whakarae

“He Whare tu ki te pae he kai na te ahi. He whare tu ki te tuwatawata koira kee te tohu o te rangatira!”

Ko Syd Kirby taku ingoa, no Te Whakatohea ahau, he kaimahi ahau ki Tamaki paenga Hira. Ko tenei pou whakarae tetahi o nga tino taonga e rata ana ahau ki tenei whare taonga. I nga raa o mua he poupou tenei no tetahi paa tuwatawata I tu ki Opotiki mai tawhiti. Koinei tetahi taonga nui ki ahau ta te mea I ahu mai tenei poupou mai I toku rohe I te tairawhiti.

“The unpallisaded fort is food for the fire, the pallisaded fort is truly the sign of chieftainship!”

My name is Syd Kirby, I hail from Te Whakatohea an east Coast tribe. I work here at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This carved pillar is a carving that is important to me here at the museum. In former times this post was part of the fortified paa at Opitiki. This taonga is a treasure because it comes from my hometown on the East Coast.

Maua ko moa

Kia ora. Ko Jacqueline Snee taku ingoa. Ko Ngati Porou me Ngati Kahungunu oku iwi. Ko ahau te kaitiaki o nga pukapuka raupapa kei Tamaki Paenga Hira.

Ko te Moa Tipua, kei te papa tuatahi taku taonga e noho ana.

Aue e hika maa tona taroaroa hoki! Ko te Moa Tipua te manu tiketike rawa atu i te ao katoa! Ka hoki mahara ki nga tipuna me ta ratou kitenga i tenei manu hautipua ara te Moa. Rokohanga ka kitea ai nga wheua kaitaa o tenei tu momo manu! Ko aua wheua i hahu ake patata ki toku ake wa kainga ki Takapau.

Kare e kore i tupono oku tipuna ki tenei momo manu!

“Hold fast to your language and culture, least they become extinct like the Giant Moa!”

The giant Moa is the tallest bird in the world. When I look at this replica I think of my ancestors and the first time they saw it. According to the korero we ate the Moa. Giant Moa bones have been found on the Takapau plains which is close to my home town in the Hawkes Bay. This is the connection to our ancestors the first peoples of Aotearoa.

Maua ko nga kete

Ko Beth Tauroa toku ingoa,
No Pohara Paa ahau,
He Uri ahau no Waikato.

Kete: Ko Mathew McIntyre Wilson te kairaranga o tenei kete, he uri ia no Taranaki, no Nga Mahanga, me Titahi hoki, nana tonu enei kete i hanga mai.

I rarangahia ai enei taonga ki te waea kappa me te waea hiriwa hoki.

He kete enei taonga, he taonga na nga mahi a te whare pora. He kete enei hei whangai i te hinengaro o te iwi, e titiro ana me pehea te whakauru atu I nga ahuatanga hou ki roto i nga mahi toi o enei raa.

Ki oku nei whakaaro he mea nui kia takoto ngatahi nga taonga tuku iho me nga taonga o tea o hurihuri nei. Kia mohio ai he iwi mauritu te iwi Maori, he iwi ihumanea, he ahurea hihiri hoki!

Maua ko Tohirere Matehaere Tangataware Rawiri (Maori Court, Tamaki Paenga Hera)

He tohunga tōku koroua ki te mahi hāngi. Kei te rongo tonu tōku ihu i ngā hua o āna mahi! Te reka hoki o te mīti poaka, kau hoki, me te paukena, kūmara, rīwai!

Nā, ka tukuna e tōku koro i āna pukenga ki tōku pāpā, heke iho ki ōku tūngaane. A tōna wā pea, ka mau aku mokopuna i tērā mātauranga tino nui ki a tātou te iwi Māori. Tau kē!

Ko te tupuna nei ko Tohirere Matehaere Tangataware Rawiri, engari e mōhiotia whānuitia nei ko Te Ware. Nō Ngāti Whanaunga, nō Ngāi Tai, nō Ngāi Te Rangi.

Ka moe ia i a Maude Moengārangi Tuhimata, nō Tuakau, ka puta ko Te Ruapotaka. Ka moe a Te Ruapōtaka i a Ngāpuāwai Rose Barlow, nō Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Whātua hoki, ka puta ko au.

Ki te reo Ingarihi (In the English language)

This tupuna is Tohirere Matehaere Tangataware Rawiri, but he was known by everyone as Te Ware. His iwi are Ngāti Whanaunga, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāi Te Rangi.

He married Maude Moengārangi Tuhimata, who was from Tuakau, and Te Ruapotaka was born. Te Ruapōtaka married Ngāpuāwai Rose Barlow, from Ngāti Tūwharetoa and Ngāti Whātua, and I was born.

My grandfather was an expert at making hāngi. My nose can still smell the fruits of his work! So delicious was the pork, beef, pumpkin, kūmara, and potatoes!

Anyway, my koro passed on his skills to my father, who passed them down to my brothers. Perhaps in time, my grandchildren will attain that knowledge that is so important to us. Awesome!

He kōhatu orooro nō Tauranga Moana.

Original gallery label: Nothing is known of the Maori name or use of stone discs found in the Tauranga District. They are, however, similar to stone discs found in Hawaii, and it has been suggested that they were used in a similar game of bowls.

Rite tonu te kīhatu orooro ki ngā papa kuti o tēnei wa.  He hoanga hoki mō ngā kai.  Ko ngā kai oroorotia me pakarutia, he aruhe, he rongoa, he kaimoana hoki.  E pai ana te taonga ki te hikitia, mai tena ki tera o nga wahi.  Te patu aruhe me te kōohatu orooro e mahi ngatahi.

Ahakoa, e katakata ana ahau ki nga korero i runga i te tapanga, kaore e tika.  Ko te korero tuturu, he kōhatu ma te mahi kai. Ko te mahi kai, hei whangaitia ta matou tinana.