A carved pou from Tangoio Marae in Napier has been found on the shores of Mahia, creating a boost in morale for the region. The pou had been washed away in February last year during the Cylone Gabrielle.
Ngāti Kahungunu chairman Bayden Barber says this is an auspicious event and a welcome sight for the iwi.
“He tohu o te ora. E ora tonu ana te marae, e ora tonu ana te whakairo, e ora tonu ana ngā hapū o Tangoio.”
“It’s a sign of life. The marae is still alive, the carving is still alive and the people of Tangoio are still alive.”
Te Iwiwhati is the name of the carved post ancestor, who was lost from his home during the cyclone last year, and the iwi is excited to see him return home.
The pou was found in Taylors Bay in Mahia, Hawke’s Bay on Monday - a long way from home.
“Ehara i te mea he pakoko noa, he whakapapa e hāngai ana ki taua takiwā. Nōreira kua harikoa ahau i taku kite nei i tērā āhuatanga i te oranga o tēnā o ngā poupou me te tawhiti o tana haere i roto i te kotahi tau neke atu.”
“It’s not as if it’s only a statue, it has a connection to that district. So, I was certainly happy seeing it was found intact and the distance it had travelled over the past year and a bit.”
The pou travelled a long 87 kilometres at sea from Tangoio to Te Mahia when he was found by a resident.
From a Māori perspective this may be an event that again re-connects Rongomaiwahine and Kahungunu and their thousands of descendants.
“He nui ngā whakakitenga i roto i tēnei āhuatanga, ka taea te tūhono i ngā whakapapa, ka taea te tūhono i ngā kaupapa. He mea hirahira e ora tonu ana tērā o ngā poupou.”
“There have been many times this kind of event has been seen. It enables ancestral connections to be formed and also connects events. It is an amazing spectacle that this carving lives on.”
However as Ngāti Kahungunu approaches the second year since the cyclone, there are still a lot of things to accomplish despite efforts to revive their iwi.
“Ko Tangoio tētahi o ngā mahi kāre anō kia tutuki. Ko te marae, e pērā tonu ana i te wā o Huripari Gabrielle. Mēnā ka haere koe ki tērā takiwā kei te kite atu koe i ngā mahi kua tutuki, engari ko te marae kei te pērā tonu. Kei te noho mokemoke rātou i tō rātou nei marae, tō tātou nei marae. Nōreira ahakoa te nui o ngā mahi kua tutuki ko te whiore ko tātou, ngā hapū, ngā marae. Ko tērā marae te tauria.”
“Tangoio is one of those tasks that hasn’t yet been completed. The marae is still as it was after Cyclone Gabrielle. If you are to travel out there you would see some works that have been completed, yet the marae is still the same. They are sitting lonely without their marae, our marae. So, despite the amount of work that has been done.”
This is a happy moment for the iwi and Barber says it’s a welcome sight heading into summer.