Rich Histories Of Maori Taonga – On Maori TV

PUBLICITY RELEASE
TUESDAY MARCH 24 2009

Rich Histories Of Maori Taonga – On Maori Television

A new series on one of the most significant collections of Maori taonga – treasures – KO TAWA premieres on Maori Television on Sunday April 19 at 8.30 PM.

KO TAWA is a six-part historical series that tells the stories behind a selection of taonga collected by Captain Gilbert Mair (1843–1923) throughout his lifetime, from communities around the North Island.

Among the extraordinary artefacts featured in the series is Murirangaranga, the famous flute that Tutanekai played to his sweetheart Hinemoa, before she eventually swam to Mokoia Island to be with him. Another is Te Awa o te Atua, the putatara – conch shell trumpet - used by Tuwharetoa rangatira to herald the birth of the first-born sons of the iwi for over 200 years.

“The first episode, ‘Te Kinikini o Te Kooti’ is about a rain cape in the collection that belonged to Te Kooti. The story takes us back to the days of Te Kooti and Mair, a colonial soldier, as warriors on opposing sides,” says KO TAWA producer Jeni-Leigh Walker.

Mair was a contentious figure amongst Maori. Some iwi saw him as being the face of the Government militia in the period of the New Zealand land wars, while to others he was a courageous warrior on the battlefield, and a skilled negotiator between iwi and the Crown. Using dramatisation and interviews with direct descendants, this series is able to recreate the stories and that historical context.

Mair, who grew up with close connections to Maori, is seen today as having an understanding of the value of these artefacts, in a way that was unusual for the time.

“It is to this country’s good fortune that Gilbert Mair – or Tawa as he was known – kept the associated histories and stories when taonga were gifted to him,” says KO TAWA producer Jeni-Leigh Walker. “Those stories went with the taonga to the Auckland Museum in the late 1800s, and our series has been able to draw on those narratives. The stories and the taonga also provide descendants with tangible links to their ancestors, tribal lands and rich histories.”

While the history-laden objects are at the heart of the programme, their context - the collector himself, and our nation’s colonial past, in which he was a key figure – is just as intriguing.

A soldier, translator and Native Land Court assessor, Mair was deeply involved in the Maori-Pakeha relationship, which didn’t please all sides. He fought against Te Kooti, and in his final campaigns he led and fought with a column of exclusively Maori warriors. He was awarded the New Zealand Cross, and in later life greeted visiting royalty onto marae. He was eventually buried as a rangitira – chief – of Te Arawa, at Ohinemutu in Rotorua.

The programme is narrated by Wetini Mitai-Ngatai. It was inspired by the book of the same name – Ko Tawa – written and edited by Professor Paora Tapsell, who curated an exhibition of the taonga. Both are descendants of Te Arawa, whose own ancestors once carried some of these artefacts.

A series that brings the past to life, and conveys the history that Maori and Pakeha share – KO TAWA screens on Maori Television from Sunday April 19 at 8.30 PM. In Maori with English subtitles.
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