This picture is of the banner (or masthead) of the Maori language newspaper Te Puke Ki Hikurangi which was first published in Papawai (just outside of Greytown) in December 1897.
Initially the paper was the voice of the political Kotahitanga movement, the Maori Parliament, and provided a forum for Maorito discuss issues ranging from whakapapa (genealogy) to loss of ancestral lands. But later the paper branched out to cover social and religious issues.
The four to eight page fortnightly publication cost 10 shillings ($1). The name "Te Puke Ki Hikurangi" (meaning Mount Hikurangi) comes from Hawaiiki tradition, or Aotearoa according to others.
In the ocean, the demonic Ruatapu, in pursuit of Paikea, sent great waves rolling over the land and many people were drowned.
Some fled to Mount Hikurangi in Gisborne, renowned to be the first place in the world to see the sun each day, and survived, as depicted, on the newspaper masthead.
The paper ceased production in 1906, only to resume for a brief period from July 1911 until 1913. It remains a vital record of oral tradition and genealogy.
-This and other curious objects can be found in Cobblestones Museum in Greytown.
