One of the teenage boys "knocked" on our tent in the morning about 8am for breakfast. As I understand it, they can't eat until we do. Breakfast was surprizingly similar to dinner: mashed spuds, toast, stew, sausage, and porridge. We talked again to Temo and his father, also named Temo and usually called Uncle Temo.

After breakfast Temo took me into the tent with the "No Women" sign. I finally got to see what the secret was. Inside lies a 30 foot long totem pole still being carved. It looks mostly done to me. The base of the totem is a large figure, maybe 5 feet tall. Above that are several delicately carved figures in classic Maori carving style.

Temo explained to me that since the women get the honor of giving birth and since men are not allowed to participate, the women are not allowed to see the art while it is being born.

They recovered the log from the river and unfortunately part of the back of the totem is rotten and will have to be reinforced. I asked Temo what some of the figures represented. I had read a little about Maori carvings and thought I knew what some meant but wanted to hear what the carver said about it. Temo didn't know much about that so he fetched the carver for me.

The carver is a guy they called Kenny. Kenny does not appear at all Maori. He looks white but he wears dreadlocks to look a little more Maori. He does have some Maori blood and he says his Maori "whakapapa" or ancestory makes it possible to make the totem.

If I remember correctly, all the figures on the totem tell the story of the life of the chief that settled the land along the Whanganui many many generations ago. The next day they would have a meeting to decide where the totem would stand. Some wanted it in the middle of the Marae, some wanted it on top of a nearby hill.

I told Kenny I thought the totem was a great idea. A great piece like that standing along the bank could never be torn down. Even if the government managed to get everyone out, they couldn't cut down that great totem. An excellent symbol of their ideas.

Kenny replied that he thought the buildings and terracing of the land was just as much art, just art of a different media.

We sat quietly and I examined the carving for a while in silence. Then Kenny said, "The story I usually tell people, it's really not a very good story..." Then he proceeded to tell me about a guy from Washington DC that had visited. The guy was some muckity-muck who had jogged with Clinton. They had a sauna and this guy sat in the hot, foggy sauna with Kenny and said he had been looking for a guru. He'd been to Indian and I don't remember where else. Kenny said, "I just sat there and tried not to laugh." Kenny believed they guy should seek out his own roots - all the way back to the celts or druids.

The theory that Temo had mentioned and Kenny further described, is that indigenous peoples all over the world achieved a spirituality that was lost by modern civilization generations ago. If you seek spiritual guidance, you should trace your geneology back to the last indigenous culture, and follow that one.

He asked me where my people came from. Scotland mostly I said. "Oh! You should study the celts. They had quite a great spiritual tradition."

I found the long conversation interesting. But the insinuation that all of modern civilization is void of spirituality is wrong. And I was offended by the idea him suggesting that I get into my celtic ancestory. Not only do I not know if they were celts, I am not seeking a guru or anything.

Many many people were arriving for the wedding via jet boat. We postponed our departure until they said most of the jet boats were done. We didn't want to get into the chop created by the boats in the narrow river. Some idiot told us it was only a hour and 45 minute paddle to the take-out. Our friend Klaus, who had rented his Kayak from the same place as us, left with us at about 11:20.

As I told Joan about my conversation with Kenny, it occurred to me that Kenny is the same personality that you find at hippy get togethers all over the world. There's probably thousands of him at the annual rainbow gatherings. In the end, I got from him a sort of spiritual arrogance and superiority. He didn't intend it but that's what I got. Temo never gave me that idea. Kenny is a great carver and has found his place.

The paddle to the take-out was actually 3 and a half hours, not 1 and 3 quarters. It was sunny though a bit windy. We had great views on the drive back to Taumaranui. That night, Joan went to bed early and Klaus and I had a couple beers together.

next: We go to parliament

  New Zealand Main Page      World Trip