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Mataatua whare whakairo at Otago Museum.
The Te Māori exhibition is due to arrive in three days time at the Otago Museum, on the forecourt of Mataatua meeting house or whare whakairo.
- kaikōrero: Dr Ray Forster, Director of the Otago Museum talks about when and how the Mataatua whare arrived at the Otago Museum.
In the early 1920s plans were underway for the Dunedin Exhibition of 1925. the then Director of the Museum, Dr H.D. Skinner knew the house was overseas in poor condition. He arranged for it to be handed into the custody of the museum but in very poor condition with many panels missing.
It had to be reconstructed and new carvings created to replace the missing ones. The museum hired Chappy Hall, a well-known carver to restore the house over many years.
When a new museum wing was constructed in the 1960s it was installed within that. Dr Forster says the museum's main concern is to preserve the house which is the only fully carved whare in the South Islands. He says it is tremendous compliment to Ngāti Awa and he thinks it would be regrettable if it were to be removed from the museum.
- kaikōrero: Haare Williams talks about the history of the original building, carved in 1872 by Wipeha Apanui and six assistants. It was handed to representatives of Queen Victoria in 1875 and exhibited in Sydney in 1880 and at the Wembley Exhibition in London in 1924 before returning for the South Seas Exhibition in 1925 in Dunedin.
- kaikōrero: Wendy Hassant, ethnologist at Otago Museum talks with Jacqueline Allen about the whare and its restoration. She says the wood is now very dry and if it was removed from the museum it would need to be totally protected from the elements, like the whare Rongopai in
Gisborne. She talks about the on-going work required to clean and maintain it. They talk about the wairua of the house. Wendy says the spiritual welfare of the house is very important to the people of Otago and it is much-loved.
- kaikōrero: Rev. Muru Walters talks about the cultural use of Mataatua by institutions such as the Otago Teachers Training College, where he lectured for many years. He tells a story about three elderly visitors from Ngāti Awa telling him they had believed the house should return to Mataatua but after they saw how it was being cared for, they changed their minds.
- kaikōrero: Hoani Turei, Mataatua kaumatua, comments on the opinions expressed in the programme. He supports the view that the whare is not "cold" and is still being used and loved in its current home. He says moving it to Whakatane would be a tremendous cost and his personal feeling is it should remain.
- waiata tawhito: by Kino Hughes.