From the MTG: Bringing home the poupou

Two poupou from the same meeting house are on display in the exhibition Kuru Taonga - Voices of Kahungunu. Photo / Supplied

A couple of weeks ago I, along with Sara Perret and Nicole Wall from the collections team at MTG Hawke's Bay, went to Te Papa Tongarewa to pick up a poupou from the meeting house, named Heretaunga, which departed Pā Kōwhai in 1889.

Bringing this poupou home to Matau-a-Māui, Hawke's Bay, was a very important kaupapa for iwi, and of course, those families who descend from Pā Kōwhai.

When Karaitiana Takamoana took command of Pā Kōwhai in 1858, after killing its chief Puhara, it signalled the end of an era, the end of Māori fighting Māori. In fact this 1857 battle on the Ngaruroro River was the last Māori versus Māori war.

Immediately after Karaitiana took command of Pā Kōwhai, in 1858, Hawke's Bay was formed, annulling rights for Māori citizens. These 'natives' were transitioned onto Karamu Reservation or were imprisoned on the Chathams Island or Devils Island (Tasmania today).

Following this unsettling period of upheaval, Pā Kōwhai and its citizens were broken, beaten, oppressed and depressed.

Karaitiana set about lifting the health of his people at Pā Kōwhai. He could see advantages in building modern Pākeha houses, literally lifting his people from the ground onto floors.

He created an economic base, growing crops for the settler market, and he began work on Heretaunga whare.

For this kaupapa he engaged Ngāti Porou to carve Heretaunga whare – Hoani Tāhu of Ngāti Uepōhatu as master carver, and Hoani's nephew Hoani Ngātai from the East Coast carving school, Iwirākau.

During this time, in 1871, Karaitiana was elected to the House of Representatives to address and settle land grievances. He was part of the repudiation movement, which sought to overturn flawed land transactions. Unsuccessful and depressed, Karaitiana returned to Pā Kōwhai, where he died on February 24, 1879.

Unfortunately Karaitiana died leaving Heretaunga whare unfinished. All but the long centre pole running the length of the roof was completed – it was in the water being floated down from Ngāti Porou at the time.

Ten years later in 1889, Augustus Hamilton, honorary curator of the Hawke's Bay Philosophical Institute, acquired 61 Heretaunga Whare poupou for the South Seas Exhibition in Dunedin.

At the conclusion of the exhibition, the Heretaunga whare poupou were purchased by collector Thomas Hocken, who bequeathed the majority of them to Otago Museum, in Dunedin.

Over time, Otago Museum exchanged these poupou with a number of national and international museums for other 'cultural artefacts'. This saw the poupou dispersed to places such as Berkeley, New York, St Louis, Boston, Liverpool, London, and Australia.

Distinguished scholar Roger Neich described Heretaunga whare as "the most scattered meeting house in the world".

Bringing this single Heretaunga whare poupou home to Matau-a-Māui represents a labour of love by Rose Mohi, kuia and direct descendant of Karaitiana Takamoana.

Rose has spent at least two decades tracing these poupou around the world. On loan from Te Papa, this poupou now sits alongside another one from the same meeting house - both are on display in the exhibition Kuru Taonga – Voices of Kahungunu.

Te Hira Henderson is curator Māori at MTG.