Story: Ideas about Māori origins

‘The whitening snows of venerable elder’

‘The whitening snows of venerable elder’

The artist Charles Goldie painted a series of portraits of elderly Māori who were supposedly contemplating not only their own past, but also the lifespan of their race. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries many Europeans considered Māori to be dying out. Portraits such as this one of Te Wharekauri Tahuna of Ngāti Manawa, painted in 1914, helped to reinforce this view.

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Auckland Art Gallery – Toi o Tāmaki
Oil painting by Charles Goldie

Permission of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

K. R. Howe, 'Ideas about Māori origins - 1880s–1970s: Moriori origins; the Great Fleet', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/artwork/1598/the-whitening-snows-of-venerable-elder (accessed 19 March 2024)

Story by K. R. Howe, published 8 Feb 2005