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Ko TawaThe Ko Tawa Exhibition opened at Auckland Museum on June 10th, 2005, to rave reviews and an emotional response from all those who were priviliged enough to be there. Over 400 people attended the opening, most of them ancestral descendants of either the taonga or of Captain Gilbert Mair (or in some instances both).Ko Tawa exhibits a selection of 28 taonga selected from Mair’s collection of 247 taonga, each with a unique story to tell, intimately linking today’s descendants to ancestral landscapes as remembered, treasured and then presented by their nineteenth century elders. In his lifetime Captain Gilbert Mair (1843 – 1923) was presented with many taonga – ancestral treasures – by Maori communities throughout the North Island. Mair, also known as Tawa, accepted these taonga understanding the obligations they represented, dedicating his later life to assisting Maori to overcome the effects of colonisation. Ko Tawa celebrates the taonga passed into Mair’s keeping, which today is integral to Auckland Museum Maori Collection, and is at the heart of the Museum’s Matariki celebrations. Having grown up amongst Maori, Mair understood the importance of receiving such gifts. Unlike other collectors of the time he ensured the associated narratives remained attached to the taonga after he passed them into the safe-keeping of Auckland Museum in 1890. This collection stands out from any other Maori art collection in the world because the narratives associated with the taonga at the time of presentation have survived. Te Kahumamae o Pareraututu - The cloak of pain of Pareraututu, is one of the taonga on display. This cloak was made by Pareraututu, she made it to honour the deaths of her people who were killed by Tuhoe in the battle of Pukekaikahu. Pareraututu was part Tuhoe herself and was grief-stricken when she learnt that her relatives had killed many of her Rangitihi menfolk. In her grief, Pareraututu collected together all of the dogs that had belonged to the fallen chiefs and wove their skins into this ‘cloak of pain’. Pareraututu then travelled to the Waikato to plead for revenge with the renowned fighting leader, Tukorehu. Her method of persuasion used no words. She sat silently upon Tukorehu’s marae for days, wrapped in the cloak and refusing to eat. Eventually Tukorehu’s heart was so moved that he accepted Pareraututu’s request by lifting the cloak from her shoulders and placing it upon his own. Soon after, Tuhoe was persuaded to return the heads of Ngati Rangitihi’s fallen chiefs and through marriages a new and lasting peace eventuated. Many years later when Pareraututu died, her bones were placed, along with many of her Ngati Rangitihi ancestors, upon Wahanga. On 10 June 1886 the Tarawera eruption scattered their remains to the four winds. Te Kahumamae o Pareraututu – the Cloak of Pain of Pareraututu - is their memorial. The narrative of Te Kahumamae o Pareraututu was preserved by Gilbert Mair, who received her while on Crown business in 1875. The Ko Tawa exhibition is curated by Dr Paul Tapsell, Tumuaki (Director Maori) of Auckland Museum, who is recognised internationally as an expert on the Mair Collection. This section of the site is devoted to the stories of the taonga, the journies we went on to talk to their ancestral descendants, what the exhibition has produced and expressions of the importance of taonga to Maori today. Using the navigation on the left, or the links below you can gain an insight into the following elements of the exhibition: The Exhibition (a brief insight into the exhibition) You can also navigate back to the Ko Tawa Taonga Database.
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 Ko Tawa will be showing at the Tauranga Art Gallery 15 March - 11 May 2008 |
