Staff + Student LoginRoimata Toroa "Tears of the Albatross"
This tukutuku panel was gifted by Kotuku Arts and Crafts, Hastings to the University of Waikato on October 1996.
The explanatory plaque that sits near this panel reads, "Tradition says that the albatross (Toroa) came from the islands carrying a kumara plant in its mouth. The Maori saw the kumara and snatched it from the Toroa's beak. Toroa now had no food and, disappointed by the greedy action of the Maori, Toroa began to cry, and still cries to this day. Roimata Toroa is a reminder to us all not to be greedy."
