Page 66 - Constructing Craft

Maungaroa and Whakarae meeting houses in the Waimana valley in the northern

Ureweras. At Omuriwaka he built a meeting house with the assistance of a
carpenter and carried out all the carvings. Te Pairi was probably well over 100 years

old when he died on 22 November 1954.

Te Pairi Tuterangi. Photo: Alexander Turnbull
Library.

The brothers Pineamine (Pine) Taiapa and Hone (John) Te Kauru Taiapa (Ngāti

Porou) were imbued with the early traditions of Māori carving. Both trained at the
Māori School of Arts and Crafts, retaining the traditional carving styles and

rediscovering old techniques. Pine told Maurice Shadbolt that he rediscovered the
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best way to use an adze in a dream. Pine Taiapa became the better known of the
two brothers but both worked hard to advance the craft and to break down

stereotypes. For example, at the launch of the Maori Arts course at the National
Arts Council's annual school of music held at Ardmore in 1966, Pine clarified the

misconception that women were not permitted to carve:
Although it was often assumed that women were not permitted
to undertake carving, this was not so. Maori tradition clearly
indicated that where women were responsible for an oustanding
[sic] achievement generally attributed to men, they were
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permitted to undertake such men's work as carving.

Constructing Craft