The most important questions to be asked here are, of course, which Archive
did Lego conduct research on for this, and which one of the fraternity is in
fact the great Tehutti modelled on??

Come on ... someone has to stand up and admit to it, we won't think any less
of you!

Andrew
---------------------------------
Andrew R Nicoll, Archivist
Scottish Catholic Archives
Columba House
16 Drummond Place
Edinburgh EH3 6PL

T: 0131 556 3661
W: www.catholic-heritage.net/sca


----- Original Message -----
From: "MD Hall, Drama - Theatre, Film, Television"
<[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 3:48 PM
Subject: Lego Archivist Update


Dear Colleagues,

My research has been continuing into the life and actions of Tehutti, Lego
Archivist (in that he is an archivist made of Lego). My thanks to Elaine
Sheppard and everyone else for all of your interest in this subject, and
for pointing me in the right direction in order to spur on my research in
this matter.
These were the first findings on Tehutti, from www.bzpower.com. These are
the work of the lego-fandom community, rather than the archive community.

"Tehutti
Pronunciation: Tuh-HOO-tee
Tehutti is a veteran worker in the Onu-Metru Archives, who thinks of
nothing but how to make the Archives more complete. Despite his hard work,
he felt like he was not appreciated. But, he thought, if he could find a
Great Kanoka Disk, everyone would have to pay attention to him.

"The Great Archive. The Archives are based in Onu-Metru, but it extends
several stories underground and all across Metru Nui. The Archives are
where the Vahki (see below) take the captured Rahi and Rahkshi. In the
Archives, they are placed in suspended animation for display. Some
creatures don't want to go into tubes, though, and are too strong to be put
into stasis, so, they are placed in locked rooms in the sublevels. Also,
every physical object in the history of Metru Nui is there for display.
Maintenance tunnels. The lower maintenance tunnels underneath are the
Archives are off-limits?there are very nasty things roaming free under
there. Like Krahka."

This would seem to imply that the archives in Onu-Metru are even more
dangerous than regular archives with wobbly shelving and Halon gas fire
prevention systems. More dangerous even than losing your footing on a
kickstool. Clearly, Lego are concerned with adding a bit of spice to the
career of Archivist. All well and good. However, further research into
Onu-Metru (not through bionicle.com, as there is precious little about the
district up there yet) has revealed that Tehutti may in fact be an
ASSISTANT ARCHIVIST, under the direction of Whenua, who has giant digger
hands and is the protector and hero of the district. Now, I don't know
whether that makes Tehutti Assistant and Whenua Archivist, or Tehutti
Archivist and Whenua County Archivist (I suspect the latter), but further
research prompted further signs, both encouraging and discouraging.
Apparently, the lower levels of Onu-Metru's Great Archives house an
enormous crab-like Ussal (I have not been able to discover its precise
nature), which Whenua has confronted with his friend Nuju. While the idea
that the archives are populated with dangerous monsters is at once both
alluring and bizarre, a matter of greater interest is Whenua's friendship
with Nuju, who is described as:

"Nuju
Pronunciation: NOO-joo
The guardian of Ko-Metru. To others, Toa Nuju might seem aloof and
unfriendly?his task of guarding the knowledge and memory crystals of Metru
Nui is a lonely one and he has never been skilled at showing his feelings.
But Toa Nuju believes strongly that success comes from working together and
he is willing to respect Toa Vakama?s leadership. Toa Nuju is a seer with
great experience at interpreting omens of the future?and he has little
patience with people like Toa Matau, who only want to think about today."

Which is interesting, as Nuju is the white one and Whenua the black one,
and as sure as they are heads and tails, night and day, they are also fast
friends and - notably - librarian and archivist. This sign of
inter-discipline friendship and collaboration is very encouraging, and a
sure sign that Lego understands the need for those of us from differing
branches of this great tree of knowledge to work together. We look to the
past and the future together.
I invite other rejoinders and views on my lego-based research. I should
note that I have no corporate or professional interest in Lego, though I
have purchased both Librarian and Archivist in their lego forms. The
Librarian (Nuju) is slightly taller when assembled.
Regards,

Martin

----------------------
MD Hall, Assistant Archivist, University of Bristol Information Services -
Special Collections
[log in to unmask]