Pounamu
Pounamu is a term for several types of hard and durable stone found in the South Island of New Zealand. They are highly valued in New Zealand, and carvings made from pounamu play an important role in Māori culture.
Name
The
The Māori classification of pounamu is by colour and appearance; the shade of green is matched against a colour found in nature, and some hues contain flecks of red or brown.[2][3]
- Īnanga pounamu takes its name from the native freshwater fish Galaxias maculatus, one of the common whitebait species in New Zealand, and is pearly-white or grey-green in colour. It varies from translucent to opaque.[4] Īnanga was the variety most prized by Māori for ornaments and mere (short handled clubs).[2]
- Kahurangi pounamu is highly translucent and has a vivid shade of light green with no spots or flaws. Its name is the Māori word for a person of high rank, and is the rarest variety of pounamu.[2] It was the preferred stone for making toki poutangata (ceremonial adzes) owned by rangatira (Māori chiefs).[5]
- Kawakawa pounamu comes shades of rich dark green, often with small dark flecks or inclusions, and is named after the similarly-coloured leaves of the kawakawa tree (West Coast.[2]
- Totoweka is a rare type of kawakawa with small reddish dots or streaks; its name means "Gallirallus australis.[2]
- Totoweka is a rare type of kawakawa with small reddish dots or streaks; its name means "
- Kōkopu pounamu is olive green and speckled with dark spots, reminiscent of the markings of three species of native freshwater fishes in the genus Galaxias that go by that name.[2]
- Flower jade or picture jade is pounamu with cream, yellow, or brown inclusions, from oxidising or weathering in the surface of the stone. Cracks or fissures in the stone can allow iron impurities to enter, and carvers can then make use of the resulting patterns. Flower jade is best known from the Marsden district near Hokitika.[2]
- Tangiwai pounamu is translucent like glass, but in a wide range of shades. When viewed against the light it resembles a clear drop of water. The name means "the tears that come from great sorrow", and refers to a Māori legend of a lamenting woman whose tears turned to stone.[2][7]
Chemistry
Jade is formed from two different stones: jadeite and nephrite. Jadeite (sodium aluminium silicate) has interlocking granular crystals, while nephrite (calcium magnesium silicate) has crystals that are interwoven and fibrous. Jadeite is mostly found in Myanmar, while nephrite is found in Europe, British Columbia, Australia, and New Zealand.[2] New Zealand nephrite contains varying amounts of iron, which account for its range of shades, richness of green, and translucency.[2]
Geological formation and location
Pounamu is generally found in rivers in specific parts of the
The
One source of īnanga pounamu at the head of Lake Wakatipu is possibly the only jade mining site in the world with Government protection.[2]
Significance to Māori
Pounamu plays a very important role in
Pounamu taonga increase in
Pounamu taonga include tools such as toki (
Pounamu is found only in the South Island of New Zealand, known in Māori as Te Wai Pounamu ('The [land of] Greenstone Water') or Te Wahi Pounamu ('The Place of Greenstone').[19] In 1997 the Crown handed back the ownership of all naturally occurring pounamu to the South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu (or Kai Tahu),[20][21] as part of the Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement.
Pounamu was of such value to Māori that peace was cemented by the exchange of valuable carved heirlooms, creating what was figuratively called a tautau pounamu (door of greenstone), as in the saying Me tautau pounamu, kia kore ai e pakaru, ake, ake (Let conclude a peace treaty that may never be broken, for ever and ever).[22]
Pounamu trails
There were a dozen major pounamu trails used in the trading of pounamu[23] and many more minor routes. Parties of 6 to 12 are thought to have used the tracks in summer, particularly via Harper Pass.[24]
Modern use
Jewellery and other decorative items made from gold and pounamu were particularly fashionable in New Zealand in the Victorian and Edwardian years in the late 19th and early 20th century.[25][26] It continues to be popular among New Zealanders and is often given as gifts. In 2011, the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key presented the President of the United States, Barack Obama with a wahaika (a type of Māori weapon) created from pounamu carved by New Zealand artist Aden Hoglund.[27]
An exhibition curated by
In the 2016 animated movie Moana the central premise is to return the stolen heart of Te Fiti which is manifest in a pounamu stone amulet.[29]
Gallery
-
Hinepare, a woman of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe. She is wearing a pounamu hei-tiki around her neck, and one pounamu earring and one shark tooth earring
-
Ear pendant (pekapeka), Māori people, pounamu and red sealing wax
-
Kataore, a mere pounamu (42 cm × 12 cm, 16.5 in × 4.7 in) named after aSir George Grey.
-
A portrait of Rangi Topeora, wearing numerous pounamu items.
-
Nephrite pounamu hei-tiki
-
A kuru (straight earring). Kapeu are similar, but with curved ends, and are also used as teething aids.[33]
-
A kākā pōria, a bird leg ring used to fasten decoy birds used in hunting.[34]
See also
References
- ^ "The Greenstone Waters, New Zealand". NASA. 22 May 2010. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-473-03012-4.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Best, Elsdon (1912). The Stone Implements of the Maori. Government Printer. p. 410.
- ^ Coleman, Robert Griffin (1966). New Zealand serpentinites and associated metasomatic rocks. Dept. of Scientific and Industrial Research, N.Z. Geological Survey. p. 101.
- OCLC 679547252.
- ISSN 0024-4937.
- ISSN 0002-9599.
- ^ Coutts, P. J. F. (1971). "Greenstone: the prehistoric exploitation of bowenite from Anita Bay, Milford Sound". The Journal of the Polynesian Society. 80 (1): 42–73.
- ISSN 0028-8306.
- OCLC 1118991633.
- ^ "Pounamu taonga". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ Keane, Basil (2 March 2009). "Pounamu – jade or greenstone – Implements and adornment". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. New Zealand Ministry for Culture & Heritage. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa: 15–21.
- ^ "Māori names for North and South Islands approved". RNZ National. 10 October 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ "Pounamu Management Plan", Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
- ^ "Ngāi Tahu and pounamu", Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- OCLC 796934005.
- ^ "Pounamu trails". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
- ^ Roberta McIntyre (2007). "Historic heritage of high-country pastoralism: South Island up to 1948" (PDF). Department of Conservation.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ Wood, Stacey (23 July 2011). "Hokitika man's carving fit for a president". Stuff. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- )
- ^ Herman, Doug. "How the Story of Moana and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths". Smithsonian. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^ "Greenstone rules". Otago Daily Times Online News. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
- ^ "Ngāi Tahu Pounamu Resource Management" (PDF). Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
- ^ "Greenstone thieves sent to prison". Stuff. 31 January 2009.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
External links
- Photos of 40 Pounamu varieties with accompanying information
- Pounamu, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
- "Pounamu – jade or greenstone" in Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
- Examples of pounamu taonga (Māori treasures) from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- First over the Alps: The epic of Raureka and the Greenstone by James Cowan (eText)
- Photo of woman wearing a greenstone neck pendant
- Photo of greenstone tiki
- Photo of greenstone mere
- Otago University Museum (1936). "New Zealand Greenstone". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 65: 211–220.
- F. J. Turner, . 65: 187–210.