IWI / HAPU AFFILIATIONS
Watch an interview with descendant Maunu
Stephens.
This imposing portrait was commissioned by the public of Nelson
in 1909 to mark the recent death of a famous local identity, Huria
Matenga. Wearing a fine cloak and displaying the precious tail
feathers of an entire
huia bird in her right hand, Huria is posing before a stormy
landscape in which we glimpse a ship foundering on the rocks.
Unveiled by the Governor, Lord Plunket, on 21 February 1910, the
painting bore the following label:
In public recognition of the brave deed of Huria Matenga,
chieftainess of the Ngatiawa, Ngatitama and Ngatitoa tribes, who,
in company with her husband Hemi Matenga, at risk of life, swam
with a rope through stormy sea, thereby saving the lives of the
crew of the Delaware, wrecked at Whakapuaka, September 3rd,
1863.
The portrait is a memorial to a New Zealand heroine. When the
brigantine Delaware came to grief on the rocks at Whakapuaka, near
Nelson, it was the local Maori community who came to the rescue.
Together with Hemi Matenga and Hohapata Kahupuku, Huria swam out
through thunderous seas and succeeded in securing a rope from the
ship to rocks. Huria, heroine of Whakapuaka, was named the 'Grace
Darling of New Zealand'. Huria Matenga died at Whakapuaka in 1909,
at the age of 68. Her tangi was attended by over 2000
people, both Māori and Pākehā, marking her importance in both
worlds.
Lindauer had painted a portrait of a much younger Huria
Matenga in 1874, soon after his arrival in New Zealand, and
this earlier portrait had been acquired by Auckland businessman Henry
Partridge for his collection of Māori notables.
Huria Matenga was painted in Lindauer's specially constructed
studio on the outskirts of Woodville, the North Wairarapa township
to which Gottfried and Rebecca shifted their family in 1889. It was
in this sun-filled room, illuminated by skylight, that Lindauer
painted so many of his exceptionally dark portraits. Like this
posthumous portrait of Huria, many of these paintings were based on
photographs.
Nelson's grand portrait of Huria Matenga is remarkable as a
depiction of a respected Māori figure who, through her heroism in
rescuing the crew of the Delaware, was identified by a Pākehā community
as worthy of a memorial. Other civic bodies around New Zealand
occasionally commissioned an oil portrait of a mayor or local
founding figure, but Nelson's initiative was extraordinary for its
time.
Roger Blackley
September 1998
(abridged)
Tukua mai āu nā kōreroSubmit your storyTāhuhu kōrero
Contributed stories
Do you have a story related to this portrait? Maybe you have images of this person? If you would like to see your story published on this website, please submit it here. All stories are reviewed before publishing.