A very long time ago in the Village

FROM THE CLASSIFIEDS OF THE TE AWAMUTU COURIER, SEPTEMBER 1950

Local artist Reasha Pye, of Tails Told, secured funding from Waipā Creative Communities for the stunning murals - one depicting lively kōkako feeding in Pirongia, and another showing an evocative night scene featuring pekapeka [New Zealand long-tailed bats], ruru [moreporks] and patupaiarehe, the fairy people connected with the maunga. Reasha wanted to inject vitality into the envirocentre to give the projects on the maunga more momentum. She painted the kōkako to be engaging and full of personality and was inspired to include dandelions as a food source for the kōkako by her father, Scott Fraser, a long-time volunteer for PRS.

“He was there at the release of the Tiritiri Matangi kōkako at Pirongia and remembers them going for the dandelions on the lawn of the Pirongia Forest Park Lodge,” said Reasha. “That caused a lot of anxiety. The birds had obviously developed a taste for dandelions on their island home, but that was pest-free and it was safe for them to eat. Here at Pirongia, there were still predators around, especially at the bush edge, so it was a relief when the birds moved deeper into the forest park.” The night scene in the second mural is more about the spiritual side of Pirongia maunga. To complete the murals, key people were invited to share their stories relating to kōkako and add finishing touches.

According to Dr Tame Roa, when King Tāwhiao brought an end to the Māori Land Wars in 1881 at Pirongia Village by laying down a substantial selection of arms, he placed roasted tūī, parrots and wood pigeons, which were food, along with a kōkako on the arms – “te koko, te kaka, te kereru, me te kōkako”. The food offered was to remove the tapu of war, but there was a deeper message for the colonialists because of the kōkako, which was not food. These rangatahi also come from a family where hearing the waiata of the birdlife when they were in the ngahere on the maunga was a given - but it’s not any longer. Their hope is the restoration of the maunga and its hei whaioranga [life force] will be a source of healing for their generation, and having the kōkako back in its home will be an important part of that for Aramoana, Mihi and Maia Davis-Uerata.