185: The Taupo Pou

Of all the Wahi Tapu in New Zealand, Pouakani (Te Pouakani - the pou of cutting?) above Taupo is special both for the concentration of tapu places and objects and for their age. In its Te Roroa Report the Waitangi Tribunal acknowledged the claimants' argument that wahi tapu were not extinguished by land sales, although it noted that the iwi had a duty to "keep warm" the taonga. The mauri-ora of wahi tapu does not diminish with the physical absence of iwi. However, the argument in this case is that the very Land Court process separated Raukawa from its wahi tapu and that the time for the restoration of the maunga and what lies around them is long overdue. Protection for wahi tapu is guaranteed regardless of land tenure. Wahi tapu is fundamentally rooted in the Maori relationship with the natural world. Amongst these wahi tapu are tangible objects and spiritual values. They include the forest, the land, the water ways and places and things associated with life and death. Specific to this claim are the objects (pou, waka, wakahuia, etc), the places they are associated with, the forests and the mountains Titiraupenga and Pureora. The physical presence recalls the name. The name recalls the event. The event recalls the whakapapa. The whakapapa recalls things past and things present.

Removal of the natural forest cover for farming and forestry has resulted in removal of wahi tapu on an enormous scale - not unalike the impact on Europeans of destroying a large museum. "You know, Taranaki (the mountain) is seen as a person, Hikurangi (the mountain) is seen in the same way. Taupiri maunga is a woman. Our old people refer to themselves as the children of the mist, the Pukohurangi. They say that the mist and the mountain, Maungapohatu, got together and produced those people. That is myth, but that is the sort of thing they talk about in terms of the land.

Without the natural environment, the people cease to exist as Maori. Europeans can't necessarily understand that. The relationship of Maori with the environment (Te Ao Turoa) is one of tiakitanga. Whakapapa is used to link through all things in the natural environment and in the social world. Maori have the same origin as the elements within Te Ao Turoa. Land and its salient features are personified and linked through pepeha, and the connection between land and ancestry is emphasized in whaikorero and all aspects of te reo Maori.

The spiritual (tapu) nature of Titiraupenga and Pureora to Ngati Raukawa is embodied in the ancestral links connecting iwi to the land. The mountains are ancestors and this relationship evokes memories - and thus past and present mingle - ensuring the continuity of the link. This sacredness is also connected to the mauri - the mountains were bound to their iwi - bound into their whakapapa through living landscapes.

THE 'POU' - THE MAURI

A number of pou have been identified in Pouakani, some of which were clearly proclamatory of manawhenua. But the singular nature of the so-called uenuku pou is their uniqueness of style and their uniqueness to Pouakani for they are found nowhere else but in the areas in the map below. Te Uenuku was taken from one tribe and lost and rediscovered at Lake Ngaroto above Te Awamutu. It has been suggested that there were as many as 14 of them configured on the lower slopes of Titiraupenga (above Tihoi) and that they were located in such sites as suggested they were about something other than boundaries.

The pou found in the Pouakani area are directly linked to the maintenance of the mauri. The pou have all been identified by Raukawa, and it is significant that Tuwharetoa have not identified the presence of any other poles. The pous are deliberately located in cultivation areas and are linked to fertility and specific tohunga. The pous themselves are also linked spiritually ('psychic poles') to the region. The pou are unique to this area and are very much a part of a Raukawa ritual, and one that belonged specifically to the Titiraupenga area. Like the later Hauhau niu they are symbols of the connection between people and places. They are associated with tapu and also with cultivation and living places.

A comment from the archaeological filekeeper for the area, Perry Fletcher, indicates their importance; " I see the pou as connected to 40 other sites in the area." After the hinana the pou were strongly connected with attempts to restore the mauri of the area, temporarily lost, as has been described, after the hinana. One account speaks of "the place where they hung babies", another kuia from the area stated that sacrifices were fed to the atua there. One by one tohunga were removed from the area as the mauri failed to recover. It was not until the time of Te Piwa that the fertility flourished. It is significant that Raukawa have always associated these places with karakia and dedications to the atua regardless of whether the structures were there or not. "There is a post named Te Pou-a-Hine-te-Ao - she was a descendant of Kapu who was a descendant of Tama te Hura. "

Together with a chief's weapons, writes Ballara, a chief's mana was expressed through the erection of carved pou or a dendroglyph. As expressed in the Technical Document for this claim, the pou - in some numbers - and dendroglyph are to be found on Pouakani. (no dendroglyphs have been found on the mainlands of NZ and they exist they are not Polynesian in origin or primary creation). We know they are not Tuwharetoa, but Raukawa.

There is a legend about the lack of bird life around these areas adding to the dead sound and general eeriness all around

The Core Issues: TE POUAKANI WAHI TAPU REPORT 1994

• Whilst there is general agreement amongst witnesses about sequences of occupation and conquest, the Native Land Court (NLC) decide to ignore any which involve utu.

• Tuwharetoa argue against the claim of Ngati Ha, saying he did not stay. Though the evidence of Ngati Ha conquests over Ngati Hotu and around the Taupo moana is strong.

• There is absence of recognition of Raukawa by the NLC - even its conquest of Ngati Kahupungapunga is overlooked.

• The boundaries of Ngati Kahupungapunga, Ngati Hotu and Ngati Ruakopiri were proved to be extensive (incorporating much of Taupo moana) - all this was ceded to Raukawa though Wairangi's conquest.

• Archaeological recording has given no authority to Raukawa. The consequent management of sites and objects has been detrimental to Raukawa mana and manawa-pa.

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Now please note that the area where the pou are (especially on the edge of Lake Taupo), was once the domain of Ngati Hotu long before Ruakawa took the area over through ‘conquest’ in the 16th Century. The land in question does not belong to anyone but Ngati Hotu in a modern sense but Maori see land conquest and loss as something different to the Pakeha... except when the Treaty of Waitangi and money are concerned. Many involved in this area will dispute who did what and when, but that's typical within Maori. Ngati Hotu (the redheads) once held this land these sacred pou sit upon. Ngati Hotu have been hard done by by the later Polynesian immigrants to the area. It seems many Maori tribes that warred over lands, managed to gain or lose land according to their strength or alliances. Do not ever think land losses were solely a European thing. They were most definitely not, and it is very hypocritical of Maori to think they are exclusive to the Pakeha. Ngai Tahu, for example, lost land in the North Island near Gisborne to stronger tribes and then in turn and took land from other weaker tribes in the South Island. You will definitely not see any of this in the new curriculum and you can see why.

The Ngati Hotu may have also been responsible for the petroglyphs found nearby and pictured below. The larger bolder pictures in the middle and top right look very similar to the Waitaha rock drawings of Canterbury. Were they done by Waitaha before they were pushed south?