The Lost Drawing of Nukutawhiti

Abstract

THE EARLY Anglican missionary Thomas Kendall left, in a series of letters written in 1823 and 1824, a unique account of northern Maori religious beliefs. He urged that the carvings were 'explanatory of the New Zealand mythology" and, as an accompaniment to a long description written in July 1824, he made a sketch of one piece which was 'emblematical' of those beliefs. This drawing vanished from the Archives of the Church Missionary Society and I could not trace it when, eleven years ago, I published my interpretation of Kendall's work.2 It had, in fact, come into the possession of a private collector in England (along with other Kendall material), but had been misidentified by him. It was only when K.A. Webster died and his collection passed to the Alexander Turnbull Library that it was recognized.3 (Figure I) This sketch of the ancestral deity, Nukutawhiti, provides new insight into the cosmogony of the Maoris and the significance of their carving. The drawing is of a centre board or entrance (kuwaha) to a carved storehouse (pataka whakairo). The large figure is Nukutawhiti, the captain of the Mamari canoe, who met Kupe and from whom Ngapuhi of the Hokianga and the Bay of Islands trace their descent. It is the earliest drawing of a carved storehouse known, antedating Augustus Earle's images by some three years. In style, however, it resembles others of the early nineteenth century. (Figure II) One is the famous Puawai O Te Arawa, held in the Auckland Institute and Museum, which possesses as its central figure, the canoe ancestor of Te Arawa people, Tamatekapua,4 who was also a contemporary of Kupe. Another storehouse, Te Takinga, has as its central figure, Pikiao,5 the ancestor from whom its builders, Ngatipikiao, a segment of Te Arawa living at Maketu,