This large and intricately carved Ngāti Tūwharetoa pātaka (storehouse), built at Waihī on the western shore of Lake Taupō in 1855, is called Hīnana ki uta, Hīnana ki tai (search the land and sea). It was one of a number of decorated pātaka built around the North Island in the 1850s as a sign of support for the Kīngitanga. These pātaka became known as Ngā Pou-o-te-Kīngitanga or The Pillars of the Kingdom. Hīnana ki uta, Hīnana ki tai was also the name of a great multi-tribal meeting held nearby, at Pūkawa, in 1856. On that occasion Iwikau Te Heuheu, the paramount rangatira of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, proposed Pōtatau Te Wherowhero as the first Māori king. Te Heuheu himself had earlier declined the title.
Using this item
Alexander Turnbull Library, A. R. Martin Collection (PAColl-5730)
Reference:
1/2-082343-F
Photograph by Daniel Louis Mundy
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
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