Hikoi and whakapapa of our recently installed pounamu mauri stone.

Te Ika a Ngahue (The fish of Ngahue) - name gifted by Kane Holmes

Pounamu in my family has always been extremely precious. It is described to our children as a tool in which you can access wairua (spirit). For me pounamu is exactly that and I have often gifted pounamu to friends, family and students. It has always been a precious gift to receive and give, for all people in Aotearoa. The earliest stories my own family knows about pounamu concerns a man called Ngahue, (sometimes called Ngake). He was a friend of Kupe - yes the same one who left descendants in Ngā Puhi and the Hokianga. The same Kupe was accredited with the discovery of Aotearoa or at least a part of the North Island, which was named by his kidnapped wife, Kuramarotini the princess who owned the waka Matawhourua. When they arrived, it is said that they cut the double-hulled waka into two and made two new waka, to show the people in Hawaiki, or the Pacific, the size of the huge trees in this new land. Kupe would continue to captain the ‘Matawhourua’ and his friend Ngahue would captain the new waka named ‘Tāwhirirangi’. Ngahue had a pet fish he called ‘Poutini’. Kupe has a story about chasing and beating ‘Te Wheke’ the giant octopus in a battle in Cook Strait. It is said after the battle Kupe returned to the Hokianga, however Ngahue traversed the West Coast and landed at the mouth of the Arahura river which he then went up and let his fish ‘Poutini’ go. Poutini then turned into pounamu and became the source of pounamu for all. The Arahura river is known nowadays as the main vein of pounamu.

For quite a few years Kāhui Kōrero, (the OGHS Māori student council) has been talking about a mauri stone for the school - a piece of pounamu that would allow every student, teacher, or any person to add to the mauri of the stone hence adding to the mauri of the school. This year is the 150th year of the founding of Otago Girls’ High School. It is the oldest state school for girls in the Southern Hemisphere and was to be filled with celebrations befitting its 150th year of educating young women. Unfortunately we have been hindered due to COVID 19 which has meant these celebrations have been limited.

One of the main initiatives of Kāhui Kōrero Māori Students' Council is to improve on things Māori in the school. We want to increase the use of language and tikanga in the school and to increase the visual presence. This year we have installed our Pare into the main foyer of the school, carved by Master Carver James York. We are also working on installing Tukutuku panels in the hall, and four lighted Pou outside that will represent each house at OGHS and of course our mauri stone.

At the start of this year we began engaging with different carvers and iwi about securing a mauri stone for our school. Unfortunately nothing was working and we couldn’t find what felt like the right stone. These negotiations were long and tedious so in the end I just said “we’re off to the West Coast and we’re going to find that stone”. A few years ago my son, Taina, had an opportunity to go to the West Coast. I told him: you know your whakapapa - go and get in that river, karakia up and find a piece. He came back home after his excursion and said "I got a piece". I said... "really? Show me". He said "Mum doesn't think it is pounamu" I looked and agreed it was. So for me, because of his success I knew that the trip would be worth it.

When we arrived in Hokitika, it was wet and dismal. I did My karakia and moved towards the pavement. I immediately felt a tug on my shirt pulling me left. I walked on and then I felt a tug on my shirt to go right. I turned and in the shop window was this huge stone. I walked in and touched it. I felt that this was the stone. Over the next days I went around every gallery in Hokitika to see what else was available. I emailed Mrs Davidson and she said "you will know what is right". I went back to that first stone and got it. It was found by Master carver Colin Davison and he got it from the Arahura river. We loaded it into my car boot and then made a bee-line for Dunedin. When I got back I contacted Mr Simon Pickard (our Hard Materials teacher) to come up with a plinth/stand that could hold our toka (stone). We met, he talked about having some rimu saved from a church in South Dunedin. He built the stand in record time because that's how he operates. The original idea was to lay the stone on flax or a harakeke mat however after a chat with a couple of kaumatua, John Tawhai and Peter Kara (OGHS Kaumatua) it was suggested that the stone should be on a river rock environment. The river stones were provided through Whaea Joe Hunter, a stalwart of Māoritanga at OG’s, and Te Ika a Ngahue now sits above those stones. We unveiled the stone at 11am on October 15 so the girls at the school could start to use it the following Monday which was the beginning of Term 4.

At the ceremony Matua Kane Holmes commented on the structure that Mr Pickard erected. The twelve rungs of native timber could correlate with the story that Māori have twelve steps to heaven and to hold such a stone you need a strong wood like rimu to keep it in place. Mr Pickard was saying he was trying to emulate the natural bush with the different woods used. Kane also commented that Whaea Joe's pebbles represent the children of the toka. To me, it was all meant to be. Te Ika a Ngahue, our stone belongs to us, the whanau of OG’s. In my opinion there are things that happen for a reason and this in particular was absolutely meant to be.