Mataatua wharenui
Subtitle: te whare i hoki mai
By: Hirini Mead, Pouroto Ngaropo, Layne Harvey, Te Onehou Phillis
Contributors: Harvey, Layne, author; Ngaropo, Pouroto, author; Phillis, Onehou, author
Publisher: Huia Publishers for Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand
Language: eng
Number of pages: 282
ISBN-13: 9781775502128
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: History; Ngati Awa (New Zealand people); Buildings, structures; Whare nui; Kōrero nehe; Whakahoki taonga; Buildings; Mataatua (Meeting house)
Description: "Mataatua wharenui is the most travelled Māori meeting house in the country. Built in 1875, it was taken to Australia, London and Otago before being returned to Whakatāne after more than a century away. The story of Mataatua is part of the story of the desecration of Ngāti Awa by the Crown and the fight of the people to regain their sovereignty. Following the confiscation of Ngāti Awa land in the 1860s and the devastation to the people of Ngāti Awa, building a wharenui was proposed as a way to reunite Ngāti Awa. The result was Mataatua, a magnificent wharenui, honoring the people, their history and whakapapa, and the skills of the craftspeople, and establishing a living marae. Shortly after it was opened, the government requested that Mataatua be an exhibit at the Sydney International Exhibition, and from here, it travelled across the globe until ending as an exhibit in Otago Museum. By this time, the government had claimed ownership of Mataatua, and it took more than fifty years of perseverance by Ngāti Awa to have Mataatua returned to Whakatāne to again become a living wharenui in the care of its people. In words and photographs, the book describes the history and construction of Mataatua, work undertaken by generations to have it returned, and the detail of its rebuild and opening in 2011"--Publisher information.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: The story of Mataatua; title: Ngā kōrero mō Te Mānuka Tūtahi = A tribal centre rebuilt; title: Ngā tipuna o Mataatua = The ancestors of Mataatua; title: Whakapapa.