Dendroglyphs in the Chatham Islands

When in New Zealand

I read of the dendroglyphs

found on the Chatham Islands

a part of New Zealand,

The Chathams are called
Rekohu in Moriori

and Wharekauri in Maori

the Chatham Islands

are a remote group

of ten small islands

lying 800km 

from the east coast of New Zealand

They have been a part of New Zealand 

since 1842

The dendroglyphs are ancient tree carvings

made by the first inhabitants of the Chathams,

Polynesians who were called the Moriori

Moriori survivors of the Maori Invasion

At that time
the Moriori lived by a code of non violence

and passive resistance

so that when boat loads of the Maori arrived 

in 1835 from New Zealand

to claim the land
and take it's inhabitants as slaves

they were almost made extinct

The Chathams are rather an inhospitable land

different from the warmer islands 

previously known to the Moriori

and to maintain their cultural 

and spiritual heritage

the Moriori carved spiritual images

on the native Karaka trees

there being no suitable substance 

such as the greenstone

in New Zealand which the Maori

utilised for carving implements 

weapons, fishhooks, jewellery

and items of spiritual value

New 3D laser technology

is being used to preserve clear images

of the dendroglyphs

which are fading from the trees

because of time
and wind erosion 

and a beetle peril

currently only

609 people

live on the Chatham Islands

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My Maternal Grandfather

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John Hannah
My Maternal Grandfather

My Parents' Wedding Day
showing my Grandfather
John Hannah (aged 72)
on the right,

and on the left
my Paternal grandparents





John Hannah
Born 1878
Died 1958




My grandfather had been a farmer
until he served
in the New Zealand infantry
in the first world war











This is his Soldier's Pay Book
for use on active service









The Training card shows that
in 1917
he passed his:

Medical inspection
Dental inspection
Musketry
Live Bombing
PTG (?)
Bayonet Fighting
Wiring
Lewis Gun Proficiency
and a further Medical

New Zealand Infantry
in Flers, France 1916
ready to 'go over the top'










Army Form W.3066

states that he has the equipment
and clothing necessary

except for:

Rifle and Bayonet
2 Gas Helmets
2 Rockets
Goggles
Ground sheet



all of which he must have later received,
by August 1917
except for the ground sheet

New Zealand soldiers
in the trenches
France, 1917

The soldier is told
he must have this book
whenever he requires
a cash advance



It also tells us
he was 39 years of age,
not a young soldier...

The daily pay
for privates in the infantry
was 5 shillings (50c)


with a deduction of 3 shillings
he received a net rate
of 2 shillings per day









this page shows the inoculations
that he received
prior to active service
I can see TB mentioned
a number of times

then follows a record
of cash payments made
for the period
from Feb 17th 1917
until
June 4th 1919

when he was discharged
on account of wounds
received in action
after serving
a total of
one year
and 293 days
in active service abroad



Back in New Zealand
he eventually married
and my mother was born in 1930
the second child,
after a son,
by which time he was already
fifty two years old,
and followed later
by another daughter



They lived in Sumner, Christchurch
where he took up market gardening,
growing flowers and vegetables



I remember only a little
of my grandfather
as he passed away
at 80 years of age
before I was five years old.




He was tall
gentle
and softly spoken
had a limp
and a walking stick
He lived with us
in a room my father built
on the rear of the house,
which has always
been referred to as
'Grandad's Room'

The dress hat
for the soldiers
of the New Zealand Infantry
was called the Lemon Squeezer...




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Daffodil Walk

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Chasing Daffodils in Hagley Park...

We can't leave Christchurch
without seeing daffodils
and while it is very early
for spring flowers
we stop the car along the river
to check the blossom
and spy our first daffies

and a cherry blossom

and then another

the sign reminds us
that tomorrow
we have an early 3.15 am start
to get to the airport in time
for our 6am flight...

but the daisies
in the grass cheer us

and the ivy cladded tree
waves it's arms in glee

so we drive on into Hagley Park
to chase down the daffodils

that rise out of the woodlands

and spread yellow cheer
across the grassy river banks

but there is no sign of daffodils...

and so we stop
to look at camellias

of fire engine red

and flowers
bursting from the cold soil
underneath the trees

an icy looking rhododenron

and cross the footbridge
we haven't given up hope...

and there
so quietly

creeping imperceptibly
from damp loose soil

the daffodils
have arrived

Oh Happy days...

The chill is creeping through my jacket
the sun has slipped away
the day is nearly over,
and this peppermint candy camellia
reminds me
not to forget

to buy some Jaffas

and some Pineapple chunks
to take back to my family
across the other side,
the warmer side,
of the Tasman Sea...





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My Grandparents

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My Paternal Grandparents

The child on the left
of this photo
is a boy
and he is sporting
a rather strange haircut -
what we would call in Australia
a mullet


The boy was born in 1899
and is my father's father
my Grandfather

These are the four children
in his family
He is the oldest son
His father was an immigrant
from Scotland
an architect from Glasgow
His mother died in childbirth


His older sister on the right
I knew very well
my Great Aunt Winnie,
who came with her husband
for afternoon tea many Sundays
of my childhood


I won't tell you
who her husband was
just yet
I am getting ahead of myself

My Grandfather
on the very right
left his hometown
a number of times
during the Depression
to find work
to support his family

This is my father's mother
my Grandmother
who I am told
enjoyed acting
and perhaps that is what
has just occurred here

Nana was born in 1902
near Timaru
in South Canterbury



She was very active in the community
and perhaps her fledgling acting skills
prepared her to make a mark
on the New Zealand political scene
She became the mayor of Timaru
and the President
of the New Zealand Labour Party- Women's Section
and a
member of the New Zealand
Labour Party Executive

In 1948
she applied for a passport
and interestingly
that document
is called a British Passport
for the Dominion of New Zealand

and she is noted
to be a British Subject

The purpose
in obtaining a passport
was to travel to Paris
with the New Zealand Prime Minister
and other advisors
to attend the Third General Assembly
of the United Nations

the New Zealand Prime Minister
at the time,
on the left,
was Peter Fraser

The Chairperson of the UNGA
was Eleanor Roosevelt
and the Vice Chairman
Dr P.C. Chang from China

The four delegates in this photo
From left to right
Mr Louis Hyde USA
Mrs Ann Newlands NZ
Dr P.C. Chang China
and
Dr W B Sutch NZ

according to the scrawled note
in my Grandmother's hand
on the reverse of the photo

they are standing

"on the very spot
where Joan of Arc was burned,
plaque set in the ground"

The task of the delegates was to agree
on the final round of the Geneva Draft
which paved the way
for the Bill of Human Rights
which was passed
by the United Nations in 1948

To read a little more
of New Zealand's stance
on this draft
you might like to link
to a previous post
entitled
My Grandmother

When my Grandmother
returned to New Zealand
after three months abroad
she was quite a celebrity
in her home town
and was much in demand
for interviews and meetings



She wrote a series of articles
for the newspaper
which were recorded onto
huge black 98s
and my sisters and I
often liked to pull them out
and put them on the gramophone
to listen to our Nana
pontificating
in a style and manner
quite unfamiliar to us...



One of the occasions
that she liked to share with us
was the time she spent at tea
with the other women delegates
of the United Nations,
and especially Mrs Franklin. D. Roosevelt




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Oh
and I nearly forgot
to tell you who Great Aunt Winnie
was married to



Poor Winnifred was a spinster
destined to remain
'on the shelf'
My grandmother had a brother
who had divorced
which was a very rare phenomena
in those times


So my Grandmother
played match maker and
stitched up Great Aunt Winnie
to her brother Frederick
creating a very tight connection
where
brother and sister
were married
to brother and sister...





Great Aunt Winnie
was stoic...





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