Portrait - 44

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Karitane

November 2010, Ajr

A Day at Onuku Marae

I've visited Onuku Marae, near Akaroa many times and every time I roll down the hill to the shoreline, I'm struck again by the beauty of the divine little church that sits on a small rise, overlooking Akaroa Harbour. Te Whare Karakia o Onuku was built in 1876 and had its opening in 1878. It sits across the road from the main marae buildings and the cluster of kaik houses that snuggle under giant walnut trees.

When it opened in 1878, it was the first non-denominational church in New Zealand and the opening ceremony was attended by Maori from iwi all over the country. In 1939, it was restored to its original state in time for Akaroa's 1940 Centenary service, which was attened by over a thousand people. As the number of families on the kaik diminished, it closed for services in 1963 and is now primarily used for baptisms, weddings and funerals. The poupou standing to one side of the front of the church is Tumuki, a gift from Te Wai Pounamu Old Girls Association in 19978. It was carved by Pere Tainui.

Across the road from the church, the marae buildings huddle under a backdrop of bush-clad hills. There are two main structures - the Whare kai, Amiria Puhirere, which was opened in 1990. It was named after Amiria Puhirere, who  lived on the kaik and was admired and loved by generations of Onuku whanau. She was the daughter of Mere Whariu and Karaweko and was over 100 years old when she died in 1944. The second building is the handsome wharenui, Karaweko, pictured above.

In the early planning stages of the wharenui, a carving committee led by Pere Tainui, was set up to research the whakapapa and history that would be represented in the house. Master Ngapuhi carver, Eric Korewha was commissioned and he was helped by a group of carvers that included Simon Rogers, Hono Fleming, Hone Taiapa and Carl Wards. They spent four years carving West Coast totara.  Ngai Tahu paramount chief Te Maiharanui is represented in the tekoteko, which stands on the top of the wharenui.

Inside, a series of beautiful tukutuku panels in olive green, gold and black mirror the colours of the Onuku landscape. these were produced by Ngai Tahu weaver, the late Cath Brown of Taumutu, working with a group of Ngai Tahu weavers.

The wharenui was officially opened and blessed at dawn on February 5, 1997.

It was the first carved house to be built on Banks peninsula for over a hundred years.
The marae is homebase for the Ngai Tahu hapu of Ngai Tarewa and Ngati Irakehu and Onuku is a place of historical significance for the fact that it was the first of three South Island locations where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed.
http://www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz/

A Portrait - 37

Photographing a Photographer

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Puketeraki

Nov. 2010. Ajr

To Dog Rock

It was a dull, overcast day in South Canterbury back in February, when I went visiting rock art sites with the team from Timaru's Te Ana Ngai Tahu Rock Art Centre. I'd been wanting to do this for years and as I wandered across the long, grassy slope in silence, lagging behind the others, I couldn't help imagining what the landscape might have looked like, 500-700 years ago, when Maori ancestors first came this way and sheltered under Dog Rock - so named for its snout-like appearance.

Bird-men, taniwha, insects, fish, waka, eagles and human figures float across limestone rock faces throughout Te Waipounamu (the South Island), especially in South Canterbury and North Otago. They've been there for hundreds of years and around 300 significant rock drawing sites dating back to at least the 16th century, lie within a 70km radius of Timaru.

It felt quite momentous to finally stand before them but I had mixed feelings. At first there was a flutter of disappointment that there were so few and that they seemed pale and barely recognisable; but after a few minutes of concentration, with Ngai Tahu Rock Art Trust curator, Amanda Symon showing us what to look for, the rocks came to life.

The Ngai Tahu Rock Art Trust was established in 2002 to support runanga and landowners in the care and management of the rock sites. Very little oral tradition about rock art has survived and the motivation of early peoples for creating them, has been a matter of debate for over 150 years. "We don't know much about the drawings - they're very enigmatic," says Amanda. "A lot of sites like this one, are well known so we decided to move away to lesser explored areas, checking every likely boulder, every outcrop from Kaikoura to Firodland."

That process has paid off with some exciting discoveries.

"It takes experience to recognise rock art," Amanda continues.

"Most people would walk right past it. But just a few months ago we discovered so figures on greywacke rock up the Ahuriri River, which we hadn't known about before. And close to here, at another known site, we also found a large face with a moko."
Few of the known sites are open to the public, and those that are, have been fenced off to prevent vandalism. But now that Te Ana is up and running, you can take a tour of two of the best sites with a Ngai Tahu guide.

www.teana.co.nz www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Preserving Ancient Maori Rock Art

Twenty-first century digital technology meets ancient rock art at the new Te Ana Maori Rock Art Centre, that opened in the Category I historic Landing Services Building Timaru on December 10, 2010. I've always fancied the idea of archaeology and the discovery of something ancient, so from the moment I entered the centre (in February) and received a digital greeting from one of the kaumatua of Te Runanga o Arowhenua, I was hooked. I've wanted to visit some of the South Island's rock art sites for a long time and this turned out to be the perfect introduction.

There are around 580 recorded rock art sites within the Ngai Tahu rohe (district) and 250 of those are within an hour of Timaru; and the centre has been designed to raise awareness of these treasures and to ensure their preservation. It's an interactive experience that appeals to all the senses - and its the perfect learning experience for school groups. There are rock art sites all over New Zealand but the largest number have been found in the South Island, particularly in the limestone country of North Otago and South Canterbury. It's here that you'll find some of the oldest signs of human occupation in New Zealand and for Ngai Tahu, they are treasured taonga and a direct link to ancestors.

My photographs hardly do the centre justice. In fact it is an intriguing stop where you can discover the facts behind some of these mysterious renderings - most of which are on private land and inaccessible to visitors.
About 300 significant rock drawing sites dating back to the 16th century, lie within a 70km radius of Timaru (Te-Tihi-o-Maru) and their creators are thought to have been some of the earliest people to travel through the region. In a landscape peppered with rugged limestone outcrops, there are thousands of potential sites - small caves, overhanging ledges - and it's there that you might find bird-men, waka (canoes), fish, insects, and taniwha (monsters), etched, drawn and painted onto the rock faces.

Te Ana provides the perfect first encounter with these intriguing works. It features samples of actual rock art taken from sites early last century (some returned from museums around New Zealand), audio-visual displays and brilliantly-conceived information panels. Some of the rock art sites within the region have been badly damaged through natural degradation, vandalism and pollution, so the Te Ana Rock Art Centre is the perfect repository of information and history. All this while members of the Ngai Tahu Rock Art Trust (established in 2002), support local runanga and landowners in the care and management of the sites.

Ngai Tahu Maori Rock Art Trust curator, Amanda Symon says the new centre is about education and raising both awareness and funds for the further protection of sites in the field. Naturally, it is also about taking pressure off the sites themselves but for those who do want to experience rock art in the landscape, the centre has organised low-impact tours with Ngai Tahu guides to two sites close to Timaru. I've visited both and I would go again.

Traditionally, Timaru has always been one of the places we all drive through on the trip to Dunedin and further south. The Te Ana Rock Art Centre is expected to change that. Around 35,000 people a year are expected to visit the centre and local tourism officials are confident many will stay in the area several days. That will have a significant economic impact on the hospitality sector of Timaru and its neighbouring towns.

www.teana.co.nz
www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

Paddling a Waka

Paddles at the ready at the Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau at Puketeraki

Karitane November 2010
Karitane is a blissful little seaside settlement about 40 minutes north of Dunedin. In addition to its ocean beach, it has a beautiful estuary area and that's where those attending Ngai Tahu's annual Hui-a-Tau (this year hosted by Puketeraki Marae), could turn their hand to a bit of waka ama paddling. I've written a heap about waka ama before - just click on the words in the below label line if you want to know more about the difference between waka ama and waka taua etc.

Traditional Designs - 25

The Tail of the Whale

A Ngai Tahu Design

Rapaki - A Parade of Hats

In November, I attended the opening of Ngati Wheke's new whare tipuna at Rapaki Marae, over the hills from Christchurch. It was a long stay that started with a dawn ceremony at 4.30am. It was also a baking hot day and, as usual, I was drawn to people wearing hats.

I love photographing people in hats. They add 'something extra' - more to the point, I think a hat *says* something extra about a person; and they add another compositional dimension to a photograph. So it's a recurring theme for me. But rather than prattling on, here are a few of the hats I photographed on the day.

Cick on Hats at a Hui (below)for another recent series of hat shots.

From the Kete Files

One Kete

Ready For Business

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Karitane, Otago.

November 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 27

At Hui-a-Tau

Ngai Tahu, Karitane

November 2010. Ajr

A Portrait - 26

Young Man

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Karitane. Nov.2010. Ajr

From the Kete Files

A Kete at a Hui

Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau

Karitane, November 2010 Ajr.

Details - Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau 2010

Sometimes you don't need a whole heap of words.

Sometimes a photograph really does say all you need.

Often, those photographs are in the detail of things.

And so it was at this year's Ngai Tahu Hui-a-Tau at Karitane.

If you'd like to see more shots from this year's Hui-a-Tau
Or from Hui-a-Tau 2009 at Colac Bay in Southland

Click on Hui-a-Tau in the label line below this post.
www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz

A New Ngai Tahu Whare Tipuna

Close to 1,000 people gathered in the tiny Lyttelton harbour settlement of Rapaki last Saturday, for the dawn opening of Wheke, the new whare tipuna of Te Hapu o Ngati Wheke, Ngai Tahu that has been ten years in the planning and making.

It was always going to be a long day - I woke up at 2am and couldn't get back to sleep, so I was ready for action way ahead of the 4.30am Whakatuwhera - the dawn ceremony. Later in the morning - after breakfast for 600, when the sun was up - a team of waka taua (war canoe) paddlers arrived at Rapaki's Gallipoli Jetty (built in 1916 as a memory to soldiers who fell at Gallipoli) to start the second half of the formal celebrations - the powhiri for invited dignatories.

It was a baking hot day and while everyone huddled under umbrellas, sunhats and nearby trees, local kaumatua (elders) welcomed the guests. I spent some of that time taking photographs - hundreds of photographs - and these are a tiny sample of some of my favourites from the day. I'll be bringing a few more to this blog in the coming days.

I always find a wealth of photographic material at Maori events - the carved tokotoko (walking sticks), the beauty of the hongi (greeting; above), the hats, the splendour of carvings, the luxury of feather korowai (cloaks- below), the intricacy of patterns and ta moko. I'm never short of a subject.

I'll bring you more of the hats, the tokotoko, the hongi and the exterior carvings in future blogs. Unfortunately, I can't show you the exquisite carvings and tukutuku panels and the elaborately painted heke (rafters) inside the whare tipuna. While I was able to photograph them for Ngai Tahu's TE KARAKA magazine, that's where they have to stay, as photography is not generally permitted inside a wharenui. Suffice to say, Master Carver, Christchurch-based Ngati Porou artist, Riki Manuel and his team have created a sublime interior that is completely unique. Manuel has invented what he loosely terms "a Rapaki style" that is based on local whakapapa, birds, plants and kaimoana (seafood) - in short, the unique local lifestyle that sets this divine little community - just across the Port Hills from Christchurch - apart. www.ngaitahi.iwi.nz