though it was indeed a corpse. The biggest ceremony 

 was when he finally arrived at Tauarau. There the lintel 

 was wept over and the theme of its composition con- 

 firmed. But as it was an important part of the decora- 

 tive scheme of the ancestral house it was also seen as 

 being the ancestor. 



When the ridgepole, or taahuhu, for this same 

 house was pulled across the river, the men on the 

 receiving side performed a posture dance to welcome 

 the backbone of their founding ancestor, Rongokarae. 

 In this instance the world taahuhu was interpreted as 

 the backbone not only of the house being built but also 

 of the ancestor himself, of a man who was a great lead- 

 er and a great carver in his day (fig. 3 ). 



A ridgepole has a clear function in holding a house 

 together. Other poles are also important; for example, 

 the central heart post and the front pole. On many of 

 these supporting posts an ancestor figure is carved. The 

 figure is not simply a carved effigy of such and such an 

 ancestor but will be seen as being that ancestor. Thus, 

 in a carved meetinghouse people will seek out an 

 ancestor with whom they have some relationship and 

 they will sit or sleep near that ancestor. 



One of my colleagues tells the story of how two 

 people sitting in front of a meetinghouse disagreed over 

 some names in a genealogy and when they began 

 questioning each other's right to argue for the respec- 

 tive version, one of them moved to the front pole and 

 hugged the carved figure at its base and said, "This is 

 my ancestor, where is yours?" This gesture won the 

 argument on that occasion. Plainly, the representation 

 on the post was an ancestor of some status. 



In yet another case, when the house Te Hono-ki- 

 Rarotonga (The Connection with Rarotonga) was be- 

 ing built in the early 1930s, the local chief objected to 

 one of his ancestors being given a prominent penis, so 

 he chopped off the offending organ. His impulsive act 

 offended the team of carvers and they threatened to 

 walk off the job. After some talk back and forth the 

 carvers agreed to finish the house, but the chief began 

 to suffer personal discomfort afterwards. In this case, 

 the mana (prestige) of the carvers was questioned and 

 their tapu put at risk. It is not permissible for the patron 

 to deface the work of his carvers or to question their 

 ability. That would be regarded as an insult. 



Carvers had certain rights which had to be pro- 

 tected. One unusual and interesting case of carvers' 

 rights was associated with the house Hotunui (1878), 

 now in the Auckland Museum. While this house was 



3. Ridgepole of a chief's house, Tahuhu 



Wood, 239 cm. (7ft. 10 in.) high 



Bay of Plenty 



Ngati Awa tribe 



Te Huringa 1 period (1800 — present) 



Aukland Institute and Museum 



