Not a tall cowboy tale
Northland folklore says a cowboy movie was filmed there in 1926, the film was a farce but the cowboys were real.
“My mum told me her Papa (father-in-law) was a cowboy of the Red Manuka, it was just a local phrase to me,” says McManus.
That was until a 1920s photograph of the cowboys appeared in her local paper mentioning the film ‘Riders of the Red Manuka’.
McManus investigated and found a six minute promotional film for the Far North, buried in the National Film Archive, but no feature film. Other short films were shot, but only one survives.
“The riders were asked if they dressed up for the filming, they said ‘no, that is just how we dress’. It’s hybrid by nature, the idea of Maori cowboys in big Tom Mix hats woven from flax,” she says.
McManus has made a series of woodcut prints in remembrance of the cowboys. They are small, McManus says, to be more affordable.
“I like the modest size, like old Japanese prints.”
Cowboys Of The Red Manuka, Solander Gallery, June 23 – July 10.
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