Phallus chopper ‘doing God’s work’
A man who insists he is carrying out God’s work does not regret using a chainsaw to slash a phallus from a Ma¯ ori carving.
Milton Wainwright, 78, considers himself a devoted Christian and deemed the statue’s penis to be obscene and immoral, so on April 16 he tried to cut it off with a handsaw.
Exhausted by the superior quality of the wood, Wainwright, who runs the Woodville Organ Museum, returned the next day with a chainsaw and reduced the phallus to sawdust. His protest led to a charge of wilful damage and, in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday, he was ordered to pay $2000 for the emotional harm it had caused whakapapa from Rangita¯ ne.
Te Hononga Maunga was part of a set of carvings standing guard over the Ballance-end entrance to the Manawatu¯ Gorge, protecting the domain where the Ruahine and Tararua ranges meet. The figure offered welcome and safe passage to hikers on the reserve’s walking tracks and its phallus was said to reflect the regeneration of the forest and its descendants. Wainwright said the carving ‘‘disgusted’’ him and promoted sex for pleasure, which he believed had led to the degeneration of society.
‘‘When indecent statues are put in public in the name of culture, we have lost our chart and compass,’’ he said outside the courtroom. Wainwright has been a caretaker of the reserve for six years and spotted the carving shortly after its opening ceremony. He wrote to the Tararua District Council, police and the Department of Conservation, and spoke with a member of a marae.
When Tararua mayor Tracey Collis was the only one to reply, requesting he not touch the statue, Wainwright decided to take action.
It is still unclear whether it is possible to bridge the cultural divide between Wainwright and
the iwi. Although he understands the offence he has caused, he stands by his actions.
Ma¯ ori activists had attacked cultural icons too, Wainwright said. He recalls Benjamin Nathan, who took to the America’s Cup sailing trophy with a sledgehammer while chanting in Ma¯ ori.
Taitimu Maipi also dealt to the statue of Captain John Hamilton with red paint and a hammer in Hamilton last year after the Ministry of Education declared it wouldn’t include the New Zealand Wars in the school curriculum.
Wainwright’s wife, Rosalie, respected his ‘‘courage’’ and ‘‘bravery’’, and had shielded him from much of the online abuse.
Department of Conservation ranger Abby Whiteman said staff were shocked when they learned of Wainwright’s attack.
In court, Judge Lance Rowe
Wainwright said the carving ‘‘disgusted’’ him and promoted sex for pleasure, which he believed had led to the degeneration of society.
said it was a deliberate and premeditated attack, which Wainwright knew would offend a large group of people. He had shown cultural and religious ‘‘ignorance’’ and imposed his moral view on Ma¯ ori.
‘‘You understood the harm this would cause.’’