Pineamine "Pine" Taiapa (1901–1972) was a notable New Zealand wood carver, farmer, rehabilitation officer, writer and genealogist. He was one of the first students of the School of Māori Arts in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

under

Āpirana Ngata Sir Āpirana Turupa Ngata (3 July 1874 – 14 July 1950) was a prominent New Zealand statesman. He has often been described as the foremost Māori politician to have served in parliament in the mid-20th century, and is also known for his work in ...

. As a carver he was part of over ninety-nine

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''wikt:wh ...

(

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

meeting houses) around New Zealand.

Biography

Taiapa was born in Tikitiki, East Coast, New Zealand in 1901, to Tamati Taiapa and Maraea Iritawa Taiapa (née Potae). Of

descent, he identified with the

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

. His secondary school education was at

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori language, Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams (missionary), Samuel Williams, an Anglicanism, Anglican missionary, and ...

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

. His earliest carving teacher was master-carver Hone Ngatoto who invited him to work alongside him on the Tikitiki War Memorial Church. The building of this memorial St Mary's church in Tikitiki was instigated by Ngāti Porou leader

in the early 1920s and is regarded as 'one of the most beautiful Māori churches in New Zealand'. Taiapa went on to be one of the first students under Āpirana Ngata at the School of Māori Arts in Rotorua in 1927 which became the

New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute The New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute (NZMACI) is an indigenous traditional art school located in Rotorua, New Zealand. It operates the national schools of three major Māori art forms. NZMACI opened in 1963 as a successor school ...

. Between 1947 and 1940 Taiapa worked on over sixty

(meeting houses). Taiapa was then a soldier in World War II, part of the

Māori Battalion The 28th (Māori) Battalion, more commonly known as the Māori Battalion (), was a light infantry battalion of the New Zealand Army that served during the Second World War. The battalion was formed following pressure on the Labour government ...

. On his return he went back to carving and worked on a further thirty-nine wharenui.

Personal life and death

He married Mereaira Te Ruawai Taiapa, by whom he had a child. His younger brother

Hōne Taiapa Hōne Te Kāuru Taiapa (10 August 1912 – 10 May 1979), also known as John Taiapa, was a Māori master wood carver (tohunga whakairo) and carpenter of Ngāti Porou. He was the younger brother of master Māori carver Pine Taiapa. The two bro ...

was also a carver. He died in Tikitiki on 9 February 1972, age 70.

References

1901 births 1972 deaths 20th-century New Zealand farmers New Zealand Māori farmers New Zealand Māori carvers New Zealand genealogists Ngāti Porou people 20th-century New Zealand historians People educated at Te Aute College {{NewZealand-artist-stub