Story: Pounamu – jade or greenstone
It is said that the paramount chief Turi, the top figure in this carving, had the great pounamu toki (adze) named Te Āwhiorangi passed down to him, through his ancestors, from the god Tāne. Tāne had used it to cut the sinews binding Ranginui (the sky) and Papatūānuku (the earth). In Turi’s time it was used to fashion the voyaging canoe, Aotea, which brought Turi and his people to New Zealand.
About this item
Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae, Victoria University of Wellington
Photograph
All rights to images of this marae are held by Te Tumu Herenga Waka Marae, Victoria University of Wellington
