New Zealand Greenstone
[Read before the Otago Institute, October, 1932; received by the Editor, 4th December, 1934; issued separately, December, 1935.]
The ethnographic study of greenstone began in 1768 with the observations of Captain Cook, which, though scanty, are of considerable importance. It was continued by a series of observers of less weight until 1891, when Mr (afterwards Sir Frederick) Chapman read before the Otago Institute the most important paper yet written on the working of greenstone. In 1912 appeared Elsdon Best's memoir on Maori adzes, which included a lengthy section on greenstone. This consists principally of copious quotations from the literary sources. Best's comments are always of interest and often of great value, but he himself had not been able to collect from Maori sources much data on this subject. Beattie's notes published in 1920 are the most important secured from the Maoris, so far as inland greenstone is concerned.
The methods of working greenstone will not be discussed in the present paper. The ethnographic data are treated under the following four headings:—
A. Evidence relating to the localities where the Maoris found greenstone in situ.
B. Maori myths relating to the origin of greenstone.
C. Date of Maori discovery of greenstone, and the culture of the earliest users.
D. The circulation of greenstone among the Maoris.
A. Evidence Relating to Localities Where Found in situ.
It is not necessary to quote at length the whole literature on this subject. Cook* (1785, p. 139) says: “they tell us, that there is none of this stone to be found, but at a place which bears its name, somewhere about the head of Queen Charlotte's Sound, and not above one or two days' journey, at most, from the station of our ships. I regretted much that I could not spare time sufficient for paying a visit to the place; as we were told a hundred fabulous stories about this stone, not one of which carried with it the least probability of truth, though some of their most sensible men would have us believe them. One of these stories is, that this stone is originally a fish, which they strike with a gig in the water, tie a rope to it, and drag it to the shore, to which they fasten it, and it afterwards becomes stone. As they all agree, that it is fished out of a large lake, or collection of waters, the most probable conjecture is, that it is brought from the mountains, and deposited in the water, by the torrents. This lake is called by the natives Tavai Poenammoo;
[Footnote] * Bibliographic references will be found in the list of literature cited at the end of the paper.
that is, the water of Green Talc; and it is only the adjoining part of the country, and not the whole southern island of New Zealand, that is known to them by the name which hath been given to it on my chart”; he refers to the map published in the account of his first voyage.
Forster, writing at the same place in 1773 (1778, pp. 18, 19), says: “This stone is commonly brought by the natives from the interior parts of Queen Charlotte's Sound to the South West, in which direction they pointed. We asked for its native place, and they called it Poenamoo, from whence probably the abovementioned part of the country obtained the denomination of Tavai Poenamoo: but next to Motoo-aroo, on the little islet, where the natives formerly had one of their hippa's or strong holds, this stone is found in perpendicular or somewhat oblique veins, of about two inches thickness, in the above-mentioned strata of talcous greyish stone. The nephritic is seldom solid or in large pieces, for the greatest fragments we saw, never exceeded twelve or fifteen inches in breadth, and about two inches in thickness.”
Polack, following Cook in some points, says (1838, pp. 343, 345): “The poenamu … is found in the channel of a river lake, which has a distant communication with the sea. … It is disposed in its natural bed, on the banks of the lake, and, similar to flint, has a whitish incrustation on its outer edges. It lies in layers not of a large size. When first dug from its bed, it is 