Ngāti Kahungunu says it's a welcome sight. Video / Te Ao
A carved pou from Tangoio Marae in Napier was found on Mahia’s shores, boosting regional morale.
Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber called the discovery of Te Iwiwhati a sign of life.
Despite the find, Barber noted Tangoio Marae still needs work after Cyclone Gabrielle.
A carved pou from Tangoio Marae in Napier has been found on the beach at Mahia, creating a boost in morale for the region. The pou had been washed away in February last year during the Cyclone Gabrielle.
Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber calls it “an auspicious event and a welcome sight for the iwi”.
“He tohu o te ora. E ora tonu ana te marae, e ora tonu ana te whakairo, e ora tonu ana ngā hapū o Tangoio.”
“It’s a sign of life. The marae is still alive, the carving is still alive and the people of Tangoio are still alive.”
Te Iwiwhati is the name of the carved post ancestor, who was lost from his home during the cyclone last year, and the iwi is excited to see him return home.
The pou was found in Taylors Bay in Mahia, Hawke’s Bay on Monday - a long way from home.
Bayden Barber.
“Ehara i te mea he pakoko noa, he whakapapa e hāngai ana ki taua takiwā. Nōreira kua harikoa ahau i taku kite nei i tērā āhuatanga i te oranga o tēnā o ngā poupou me te tawhiti o tana haere i roto i te kotahi tau neke atu.”
“It’s not as if it’s only a statue, it has a connection to that district. So, I was certainly happy seeing it was found intact and the distance it had travelled over the past year and a bit.”
The pou floated 87km from Tangoio to Te Mahia when it was found by a resident.
From a Māori perspective this may be an event that again re-connects Rongomaiwahine and Kahungunu and their thousands of descendants, Barber said.
“He nui ngā whakakitenga i roto i tēnei āhuatanga, ka taea te tūhono i ngā whakapapa, ka taea te tūhono i ngā kaupapa. He mea hirahira e ora tonu ana tērā o ngā poupou.”
“There have been many times this kind of event has been seen. It enables ancestral connections to be formed and also connects events. It is an amazing spectacle that this carving lives on.”
However, as Ngāti Kahungunu approaches the second year since the cyclone, Barber said there was still much to accomplish despite efforts to revive their iwi.
“Ko Tangoio tētahi o ngā mahi kāre anō kia tutuki. Ko te marae, e pērā tonu ana i te wā o Huripari Gabrielle. Mēnā ka haere koe ki tērā takiwā kei te kite atu koe i ngā mahi kua tutuki, engari ko te marae kei te pērā tonu. Kei te noho mokemoke rātou i tō rātou nei marae, tō tātou nei marae. Nōreira ahakoa te nui o ngā mahi kua tutuki ko te whiore ko tātou, ngā hapū, ngā marae. Ko tērā marae te tauria.”
“Tangoio is one of those tasks that hasn’t yet been completed. The marae is still as it was after Cyclone Gabrielle. If you are to travel out there you would see some works that have been completed, yet the marae is still the same. They are sitting lonely without their marae, our marae. So, despite the amount of work that has been done.”
Barber called it a happy moment for the iwi and said it was a welcome sight heading into summer.
