Designs and symbols from the taiao

In the early 1800s, detailed art forms had emerged that reflected the local fauna, flora and climate of Aotearoa. In this video, we learn about specific designs used in whakairo and the symbolism behind them.

Transcript

Wiremu Puke (Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi)

There’s certain carving patterns, one that’s called a rauponga, which has a type of notching and which is supposed to symbolise the fern or the ponga itself.

A lot of those deeper symbolisms have been lost to the passage of time, but there are descriptions of them. Like there’s a pattern on here on here called a pākura, which refers to the swamp hen. But why is it called a pākura? Swamps were always places where our carvings were dyed black, where ochre was gathered from, and also the swamps were always used as a repository to bury our carvings for safe keeping. It could be the reason why the pākura is often referred to to describe this pattern. A lot of it is interpretation and context. It may be called a pākura, but I can also refer to this in my way as ngā ara wairua – the interlocking of the spirits of the dead with the living.

As a carver, I have those terminologies but there’s also my reinterpretation of the context of a pattern on the carving.

So you have here these manaia bird faces and beak. These are symbolic of birds because the birds often are our connection to the spirit world, like the morepork or the ruru. The one on the front of this wharenui is an extinct one, and that bird was called peho. That was last heard and seen in 1900.

The kōruru is referred to as Wairere, the ancestor. So here the ancestor takes on both the face of the bird and the wairua of the ancestor Wairere.

This pattern here is called a pūwerewere, this refers to the spider web. For me, it denotes the spirituality of these ancestors, because when you look at a spider’s web, sometimes you can see the spiral patterns.

So carvers are influenced by the motifs like the koru – what they see the ngahere to give them inspiration to adopt those patterns on there.

Acknowledgements Wiremu Puke (Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi) Hukanui Marae, Ngāti Wairere Special thanks to Dante Bonica, mentor of Wiremu Still of fern, Steve Atwood Wakahuia (treasure box), 1800-1850, New Zealand, maker unknown. Purchased 1911. Te Papa (ME001992) Taiaha (long fighting staff), 1700-1850, New Zealand, maker unknown. Bequest of Kenneth Athol Webster, 1971. Te Papa (WE000979) Tauihu/canoe prow stained black; unstained wooden tauihu (pītau) with patterns including pūwerewere; and wakahuia with rauponga pattern. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Released under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Photos of excavation of Chartwell Pataka (1974), 1978/33/4.1-3 – Chartwell Pataka, Collection Waikato Museum Te Whare Taonga o Waikato Laughing owl known as whēkau or pehu. Photographed between 1889 and 1910 by Henry Charles Clarke Wright Spider web, imagex, 123RF Ltd Koru fern unfolding, Jon Radoff. Released under Creative Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

This content was developed as part of the project 'Te ohomauri o Wairere – the empowering life force of Wairere', funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment through its Unlocking Curious Minds initiative.