Story: Te Arawa

This watercolour, sketched at Ōhinemutu around 1848, is the only one which shows the carving, Pūkaki, as a kūwaha (gateway). A prominent bend in the Ngongotaha Stream is known as Pūkaki, and some cite this area as the source of the log from which Pūkaki was carved. Pūkaki was later converted from a gateway to a tiki (freestanding figure). By 1850 Pūkaki was sitting in front of Korokai’s chiefly residence, Te Angaanga at Ōhinemutu.