Marewa’s cloak - a life cut short

This kahu huruhuru (feather cloak) tells the tragic story of Marewa-i-te-rangi, a little girl who died in 1899. It also tells of the close friendship between her grandfather, the Māori chief Tūtakangahau, and ethnographer Elsdon Best.

A family tragedy

Marewa-i-te-rangi was the granddaughter of Tūtakangahau, chief of Tamakaimoana, a subtribe of Tūhoe. The ethnographer Elsdon Best (1856–1931) was a family friend, who described Tūtakangahau as ‘mōhio’ (deeply knowledgeable).

Tūtakangahau was also forward thinking and asked Best to watch over his three grandchildren. He wanted them educated at the school at Te Whāiti, Ruatāhuna, in the Bay of Plenty.

But in May 1899, an influenza epidemic swept through the region, and Marewa became ill and died, aged just 8 or 9. Best was with her when she passed away and accompanied her body home with the family for her tangi (funeral).

A gift of great honour

After the tangi, in a formal ceremony called the tahua roa, the family distributed food and other gifts to respected visitors. The ceremony recognised the importance of the person who had died.
Marewa’s parents gave this kahu huruhuru (feather cloak) to Best, because they held him in such high esteem. Best later gave the cloak to the Colonial Museum, Te Papa’s first predecessor. Poignantly, his handwritten notes question whether the cloak might have been made in the early 1890s for Marewa herself.