A Maori star compass, with 4 quadrants, each with seven “houses”. Since the southern hemisphere doesn’t have a stationary pole star for night navigation, the Maori navigated by watching which houses the stars rise and set in.
This beautiful Maori star compass was the first stop on our way into Napier — a lovely town on the east coast of North Island that we visited after our Friends Couple Enrichment workshop in Palmerston North.
The east coast of New Zealand has a fairly large Maori population, but Napier is known not for its Maori culture, but for Art Deco architecture.
In 1931, a massive earthquake leveled the town, killing over 160 of the 16,000 people living there. By a quirk of geological fate, the earthquake raised the ground around the coastal town by as much as 2 meters, draining a large lagoon and providing unexpected new land for the town to rebuild on. After the navy arrived (the roads and trains were too damaged to use for travel) and the immediate disaster relief was set in place, the town leaders quickly decided to rebuild the town. Over the course of 2 years (in the middle of the great depression) the town rebuilt the business center, focusing on the architecture of the day — Art Deco. Now, over 80 years later, the center of town thrives on tourists coming to enjoy the Art Deco architecture and the wine from some of the 72 wineries in this area, the second largest wine growing area in New Zealand.
While we enjoyed learning of the Art Deco history of Napier (and noting that Duke University was being constructed in the Gothic tradition at about the same time) we also enjoyed spending time with our hosts, Adrian Skelton and his wife Kate. They are a delightful couple with whom we have much in common: a love of music, a love of conversation about spirituality, a history of living in the U.K., and children of approximately the same age. They welcomed us to their newly built eco-house on a sunny north facing slope, where we slept in a bedroom with floor to ceiling windows looking out over the beautiful view and the ever changing night sky.
Adrian took us on a wonderful hike on a goat-like track up Te Mata, the highest of the nearby hills, from which we got gorgeous views of Napier and Hawke’s Bay.
Mike and Adrian got a bit ahead of me on this trail!
We also had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral (one of eight Anglican cathedrals in New Zealand). The building, which was consecrated in 1965, is built in the Art Deco style and has wonderful touches. One of my favorites was the cross hanging from the ceiling — a beautiful wooden cross with a raised outline of the crucified Jesus with a beautiful glowing red glass center.
I (Marsha) hadn’t known until I read up on it that the Anglican Church in 1992 made the formal decision to recognize three cultural expressions of the faith in this area of the world: instead of one archbishop, they have three bishops co-serving in the role of archbishop, with each serving different populations: Maori, Pakeha (meaning New Zealanders of Western heritage), and Polynesian. (Here is an interesting article and photos about the ordination of the newest Maori bishop in 2017 which took place at a Maori marae [meeting place], complete with haka [ceremonial dance], hongi [maori greeting by touching foreheads], and other maori traditions.)
The result of this explicit recognition of different cultures is that Napier’s cathedral is actually the seat of two bishops — one who serves the pakeha eastern region of the North Island (Waiapu), and another who serves as the leader of the Maori Anglicans across all of New Zealand. Thus, at the front of the church there are two “cathedra”, or bishop’s chairs, and two altars. The second altar is part of what is referred to as the “Maori Chapel” and is decorated with beautiful Maori wood carvings, and backed by traditional Maori woven mats. Strikingly beautiful, and a wonderful reminder that even within one denomination there can be multiple ways of expressing one’s faith.
To close, and having nothing to do with Art Deco, we chanced upon this train crossing the central pond in nearby Hastings. Not every town has a train line up the middle of the street! Toward the end of the video you can see Marsha and Adrian on the other side of the track.
Green Edges 