Carving out work in Northland

By Debra Hunt

A new Maori carving centre is being constructed at Tamatea Marae on the Hokianga Harbour as part of an effort to combat high levels of unemployment in the area.

Ngati Tamatea, of the Te Rarawa iwi, decided three years ago to actively encourage tourism in their Motuti area so Maori could stay living and working near their own marae.

“It will revive our culture, our tikanga, our way of life. It will restore our stories, our employment,” Tamatea Marae worker Jean Kapea says.

The carving centre will teach bone, wood and greenstone carving to both Maori and tourists, and is the latest initiative to bring employment back to Motuti.

The nearby Kaikohe area recorded an 18.7 per cent unemployment rate in the 2001 Census, compared with the national rate of 7.5 per cent, and Motuti locals say people are often leaving in search of work.

Kapea says the community has lost nearly a third of its members over the last three years, dropping from around 45 to just 32.

She believes the carving centre, which will employ teachers and encourage tourism, will help to stem this loss.

An old barn at the back of the marae is being renovated and converted into the carving centre with the help of Rotarians from around Northland, as well as funding from the Auckland Private Education Charitable Trust.

Help is also coming from as far away as California. The Arcadia Rotary Club of Los Angeles is working with the Rotary Foundation to provide $22,000 worth of carving equipment, fittings and training.

New Zealand-born Rotarian Dr Brad Miller visited the marae and what he saw inspired him to take up the marae’s cause and encourage his US Rotary Club to get behind it.

Impressed with the intricate carving of the wharenui, he asked his hosts where all the carving was done and where the equipment was kept. 

“They said with downcast eyes, ‘We don’t have it here anymore. We sold our equipment.’ I was shocked… I saw their heritage fading away… and I felt it was very very sad,” said Dr Miller. 

Robert Paparoa, one of the men involved in carving the Tamatea marae, has been enlisted as the tutor for the new centre.

He learnt to carve when he was young because “it was the only job going up here at the time”. 

Currently on the sickness benefit, he will be taking up the position so he can teach others to pass the craft along.

“I’m not doing it so much for employment… I just want to pass on my skills,” he says.

Paparoa says although carving is traditionally done by men, many young women have expressed interest in learning to carve at the centre. He sees no problem with teaching them the skill.

“We’re trying to create work so we don’t lose our young people,” he says.

“Our young people don’t want to leave, but it’s a case of them having to… the Government has more or less forced our hand.” 

Kapea and Paparoa say Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) has been putting pressure on unemployed Motuti residents to move to areas with better employment opportunities and threatening to stop providing financial assistance unless they move.

WINZ denies this claim but says moving is sometimes discussed, with the final decision resting with the client.