Children of Tane | sophie-kate-foster

CHILDREN OF TĀNE

[Titles from left to right: Kōparapara (Bellbird), Huia, Tūī, Tīeke (Saddleback), Kōkako, Tihe (Stitchbird)]

Ko Tāne mata nui

(Tāne can see all you do, for he is a god, and the birds are his eyes)

There is a symbiotic relationship in the history of Māori and bird. The birds were said to be tapu - under the guardianship and protection of Tāne, God of the forest. Their ability to fly, their song, beauty, and variations in appearance and behaviour - were cherished and personified in Māori lore and proverb. The birds were one of few creatures to inhabit New Zealand prior to contact with the European’s, which meant they had a large impact on Maori culture.

With the Europeans came the cultural construct of the natural science museum -introduced into New Zealand during the Victorian era. These institutions act as an assumption for what can stand in for nature at a particular time for a particular group of people. They enrich our cultural understanding, but risk suggesting the superiority of Western culture at the expense of other knowledge systems, beliefs and practices.

The native Wattlebirds and Honeyeaters are two taxonomic classification groups that are based off the bird’s characteristics. I have based the subject of my oil paintings on these species, which are specimens from a museum archive of natural history - purposed for research and collection. Activating a conversation where indigene meets bird, indigene meets colonizer, followed by bird meeting the taxidermist; my project goes on to challenge how we choose to represent the natural world, and questions the morals and ethics that the Western culture adopts.

HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY EXCHANGES BETWEEN PAKEHA, MĀORI AND BIRD...

[Sophie Kate Foster, 2017. Children of Tāne. Collection of the artist]

[Sophie Kate Foster, 2017. Tihe (Stitchbird). [Oil on board, 252 x 168mm]. Collection of the artist]

[Sophie Kate Foster, 2017. Children of Tāne. Collection of the artist]

Māori Proverb translations from top to bottom:

I te tau ō Kōparapara - "The note of the bellbird". Referring to a musical note of the bell bird that warns people that rain is coming.
He kōkako ka toko i runga ō paumāhoe - "The crow puffs up up its chest at its home in Puamāhoe". A saying applied to a coward that flees their home when attacked, or takes flight in battle. A variation recorded as he kōkako ka toko i runga ō rau māhoe, translated as " the kōkako chirps at the top of the māhoe tree" - a more accurate wording of the proverb. The leaf of the māhoe tree was placed between the lips , either flat or double, and used to call birds to the fowler by drawing in the breath.
Ka mahi Koe te whare ō te tīeke - "You are building the nest of the tīeke". This describes a person making a cloak of dried kiekie leaves - the tīeke often builds its nest in a tuft of them.
Tēnā te tūī ō Rongo - "Accept that it is Rongo's tūī". Rongo is one of the offspring of Rangi and Papa,Sky parent and Earth mother, and represents peace and the arts peace such as agriculture. Accept cheerfully what is given to you. "Half a loaf is better than none".
Tae a wairua te motu huia, ō Tararua i runga - "In spirit do I visit the groves of the huia on Tararua, thoses mountains to the south". Words of a song that was composed by Ponehu of Ngātitoa when taking leave of Kāwhia and thinking about Tararua and the lands he hoped his war party would overrun further south.
Tihe wera - "Burnt stitchbird". A name given to a male bird of the species, which also commemorates his adventure with Maui. Legend has it that this little bird got in trouble with Maui for not fetching him water as he lay exhausted in the sun. Because the bird would not obey, Maui threw him into the fire, and its feather were burnt. Ever after its penalty has been to be shy and timid and to wear a patch of yellow on its breast to remind him of the sun and fire.