Southern Māori Archives Project

letter, 02/05/1935, H.D. Skinner to H.J.Peake, Thanking Mr. Peake for the Windmill Hill pottery fragments that have been added to the Museum collection. Requests any further fragments are too sent to the Museum.

letter, 08/02/1935, H.D. Skinner to H.J.Peake, Thanks for letter received 13/11/1934 and accepts offer of early fragments of Windmill Hill pottery to be received by the Museum. Inquires about the availability of Peterborough fragments.

letter, 26/07/1935, Mr Mason to H.D. Skinner, Noted mats received, fish hook sent. About to send hat made of Cassowary feathers and the ? from a native creeper.

letter, 13/11/1934, H.J.Peake to H.D. Skinner, Regarding aid in building Skinner's collection. Offers material from Neolithic site Thatehou and more from Victoria Park in Newbury, with Neolithic pottery fragments from Windmill Hill in Sussex. Has a large collection of different early iron age works, Culture A, La Tiene I and II from various local sites. Fragments from Romanco-British pottery. Offering these materials for exchange representation sets.

letter, 15/10/1935, H.D. Skinner to W.J.Phillips, Praises Phillips on his paper on pounding implements being accepted for publication in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. However expresses that he believes him lucky as he believes the paper should have never been made on the account of the pounders of the middle region of NZ and not a catalogue of the better pounders. Informs Phillips of his little knowledge on the publishing of Polynesian or Maori material in other journals

letter, 08/10/1935, W.J.Phillips to H.D. Skinner, Asking about journals that publish Maori articles. Informs Skinner of his paper 'Pounding Implements" is being published in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.

letter, 29/04/1935, H.D. Skinner to W.J.Phillips, Skinner is unsure if the Maori pendant that curls in a serpentine way is called manaia, as he also heard it called koropepe. Skinner discusses a hei matau, described as a pendant in the form of a one-piece fishhook, and that the museum has hybrids of hei matau and koropepe. Skinner ends the letter saying that he no longer has editorial connection with the Journal of the Polynesian Society.

letter, 24/04/1935, W.J.Phillips to H.D. Skinner, Phillips asks Skinner for information on Maori pendants, particularly the ones that are curled in a serpentine way. Phillips asks what the correct name for these are called as he has heard them called Mania by Graham in the article Rei-puta, which he understands to be manaia. A Mr. Best was then unsure about this name. Hamilton names these pendants Hei Matau. Phillips sent his patu paper to the editor of the Royal Anthropological Journal and wrote another paper on Maori headbands, using Bucks paper as the basis and intends to forward the paper to a journal called Oceania.

letter, 14/12/1935, Norman Potts to H.D. Skinner, Potts assures Skinner that the transaction of 3 pounds Potts passed on to the vender of hooks will fade into oblivion as Skinner wished. Potts shares his joy at Skinner publishing rock paintings. Lastly, Potts thanks Skinner for the two papers on greenstone that he sent him.

letter, 07/12/1935, H.D. Skinner to Norman Potts, Skinner discloses 3 pounds and a receipt for fishhooks which he then asks Potts to not mention again as he is trespassing on the reserves of the Auckland Museum by buying material from the Bay of Plenty. Skinner has around 100 rock paintings that he intends on publishing. Skinner then discusses two taniwhas but does not add context.

letter, 25/11/1935, H.D. Skinner to Norman Potts, Skinner explains that two one-piece fish hooks Potts sent him, were made for use from human bone, maybe to catch ruvettus pretiosus. Another hook Potts sent to Skinner is broken and made from whale ivory, the tooth possibly coming from a sperm whale, which had a paua inlay in the eye. Skinner asks to buy the hooks from Potts/ from Potts friend whose hook it is, for 3 pounds.

letter, 14/11/1935, H.D. Skinner to Norman Potts, Skinner thanks Potts for the two bone fishhook points, the greenstone pieces and the basalt chip-chisel. Skinner explains that the greenstone is bowenite from Milford Sound, a vast number of fake ones were put into circulation in the 1890's by Hyam, a Dunedin jeweller. Skinner explains that the two bone points were made from human bone and the finer one from human skull.