6 feb 1997 anni - Karaweko Marae opens

Descrizione:

Hundreds of people turned up to the Onuku Marae near Akaroa before dawn yesterday for the opening of the new Ngai Tahu carved meeting house.

People crowded the meeting house to overflowing, leaving many outside in the rain, as the tapu was lifted and the building blessed.

The meeting house, called Karaweko, after a 19th Century Onuku chief, is one of the few carved houses in the South Island, and the first fully carved meeting house in the Banks Peninsula area this century.

Ngapuhi master carver Eric Korewha headed a team of carvers who worked on the project for four years, producing more than 60 carvings.

The tukutuku wall panels were woven by women from all the maraes in the Canterbury region under the direction of Cath Brown. Each area is represented in the designs.

The chairman of the Onuku Runanga, George Tikao, said people had worked hard to get the meeting house finished in time for Waitangi Day.

All the poupous (carved posts) in the house represented ancestors from the Ngai Tahu area, while the Ngati Kahungunu links with Ngai Tahu were also recognised, he said.

The Onuku Marae will host today's Ngai Tahu Waitangi Day commemorations as one of the three places in the South Island where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.

It will begin at 10am with a powhiri (formal welcome), followed by an address by former governor-general Sir Paul Reeves. A hangi will follow, and there will be entertainment throughout the day.

A Waitangi Day commemoration will also be held at Okains Bay.

Source: DAWN OF A NEW MEETING HOUSE.
By Howard KEENE.
275 words
6 February 1997
The Christchurch Press

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