Hōne Te Kāuru Taiapa

Hōne Taiapa was born at Tikitiki, of Te Whānau-ā-Hinerupe - Ngāti Porou decent.

The younger brother of the renowned Ngāti Porou carver, Pine Taiapa, the two men worked together from the mid-1930s. Their projects included the centennial meeting house at Waitangi, carved in the northern style and opened in 1940, Ruakapanga at Hauiti marae in Tolaga Bay (1944), and the house Tūkākī at Te Kaha, carved for Te Whānau-ā-Te Ehutū (1950). This house is considered one of Hōne's finest works.

In 1960 he was recognised with an MBE for services to Māori Art and in 1966 was appointed master carver at the Rotorua Māori Arts and Crafts Institute Whakarewarewa. He had been working at the institute since the 1930s, when he began assisting Pine, as an apprentice carver.

See also:

• Angela Ballara. 'Taiapa, Hōne Te Kāuru', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• Brett Graham, 'Whakairo – Māori carving - Carving in urban environments', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.