Art: Sacred Treasures of the Maoris

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Though Americans have reason to be grateful to the Maoris for entrusting their sacred treasures to the care of foreign museums, the tribesmen themselves take scarcely any credit for the marvels wrought by their artists over a thousand years. One traditional Maori poet declares, "The authority, the awe, the divine and the artistry,/ I inherited these gifts from my ancestors.'' —By Patricia Blake