Artist Book/Exhibition

Muttonbirds - part of a story

2/4

I met Dean Tiemi Te Au in Wellington through a friend. When I mentioned to this friend my long-held wish to photograph muttonbirding, she said matter-of-factly, 'I know a muttonbirder.' We were on the street during this conversation and I'm sure I displayed my surprise. I had been trying to meet a muttonbirder for several years and had all but given up.

She arranged a meeting in a cafe. Dean brought along his young daughter, Kahutatara, who remained a picture of patience for two hours while he took me through his crumpled Maori Land Court succession order, line by line, and talked at length about Taukihepa, a muttonbird island just off the south-west coast of Stewart Island, and a birding area there he called Heretatua. We talked too about the muttonbirds' long haul from near the Arctic Circle to burrows in the dark, peat soils of the muttonbird islands. Females lay more ...


Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/26/3	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/15/5A	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/27/13

Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2002 REF# 6162/13/27	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2002 REF# 6162/7/31A	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2002 REF# 6162/7/33A

Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/14/20	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/26/27	Muttonbirds - part of a story Taukihepa, New Zealand, 2003 REF# 6162/27/19