 Maui Ormond Woodbine Pomare Named after his famous grandfather, Maui lived on and managed the family farm at Hongoeka, near Plimmerton. He was an historian, but most of all he was a collector of art and taonga. He roamed the world to satisfy his passion, and in the course of it also sought out and attempted to bring home the many mokomokai held in collections overseas. His wife Marie-Louise recalls "I'd go with him on his trips. He would see these heads, say a karakia over them, an return them to their drawers. Then he'd set about trying to get them home. Although it was very hard trying to break down those barriers, he was consumed by it. I believe he was driven by the spirits of his ancestors." "He was also a voracious reader. He would stay up and read a book a night on things like art, antiques, New Zealand history, whakapapa. He also had his own collections of porcelain, silver, pistols, walking sticks... the place is full of them." She said living with Maui was like living with Steptoe. "He spent all of his money on Taonga - that's why we have none. The house is full of Taonga but the roof's leaking." His favourite Taonga was a cloak given by the Tuhoe people to his grandfather, Maui Pomare, the first Maori doctor and prominent politician. It was made especially for him and contains juvenile Kiwi feathers. Maui, the art collector, could whakapapa back to several iwi, among them the Ngati Toa, Ngati Kahungunu, Ngati Ruakawa and Rongomaiwahine. When his brother Eru died he recalled how they had had a marvellous childhood lived out on their home in the Hutt Valley, the farm at Hongoeka, and his mother's Ormond family at mahia in Northern Hawkes Bay. He's survived by Marie-Louise and their two children Miria and Te Rakeihuia. |