Our Treasures: Craig's Museum link in journey of rare kuri dog hair samples to Whangārei Museum

The rare kuri dog hair samples among the archives in a temperature-controlled storeroom at Whangārei Museum. Photo/Supplied

According to the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the Year of the Dog, which is an appropriate title coinciding with the subject of this article. It provides the perfect opportunity to highlight a couple of small, unassuming relics housed in the collections at Whangārei Museum.

Among the myriad archives kept in the safety of a temperature-controlled storeroom are not only rare and exquisite taonga including kahu kiwi, piupiu, and worked fibre, but also two small kuri dog hair samples.

Mounted on discoloured card, these specimens show fragments of what is recorded as 'Old Maori dog hair' which have been intricately secured by muka fibre.

Donated by Mr Craig in 1923 to the Whangārei Museum, records suggest the artefacts were once in the possession of a Mr Cawkwell of Taranaki, who eventually sold them to Craig's Museum, Princes St, Auckland.

Craig's Museum Princes St Auckland circa 1880. Photo/Supplied

During the 1880s Eric Craig built a two-storied shop adjoining his house in Princes St which was known variously as "Fern Depot", "Craig's Museum", "Eric Craig's Fern & Curiosity Shop" and "Craig's Curiosity Shop".

Although fern collecting was his main concern, he traded in all kinds of items sourced from New Zealand and around the Pacific.

These ranged from shells, corals, and kauri gum to an extensive selection of Māori artefacts, carvings and curios including samples of kuri hair such as those now in Whangārei Museum.

The kuri or Polynesian dog was described by some as small with sharply-pricked ears and short flowing tail.

Maori greatly valued these dogs and used them for hunting, pets, as a food source and pelts for chiefs.

Dogs with white hair were highly prized, not only on account of the valuable skins for mats and cloak-making, but because of the long tail hair.

Kahu kuri (dog-skin cloaks) were the most prestigious of Māori cloaks before the Pacific dog became extinct in the mid to late 1800s.

It was the men, rather than women, who prepared the dog skins and sewed these garments due to the labour-intensive process.

While a mat of dog-skins was a precious possession, the white hair (awe) of the dog's tail was also used to adorn weapons such as taiaha, the tail of the living animal being kept regularly shaved, and the hair put away for this purpose.

Its bones were made into awls, pendants and necklaces, while the jaw and teeth were used for fish hooks.

Since kuri provided such a valuable resource, they often travelled with migratory groups throughout the Pacific archipelago, allowing the spread of Polynesians in the Pacific to be documented through the dog's ancient DNA extraction.

Dogs were also used as a tapu food for tohunga.

In the 1830s at Mangakahia, when a high-born woman was to get a moko, one of the last kuri in the district was killed as tapu food for the tattooist.

Although the provenance of these two dog hair samples is incomplete and the connection between the donor and Eric Craig's Museum is unknown, they are a scant reminder of the kuri which has now entirely disappeared.

However, archaeozoological and technological analyses reveal the unique character of these ancient animals, telling the stories of their lives in addition to those who kept, sacrificed and adored them.

■ Natalie Brookland is collection registrar, Whangārei Museum at Kiwi North.