Pou whenua installed on Quail Island to 'enrich' visitor experience

Monday, 27 May 2019

Te Hamo o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa has been installed on Quail Island, overlooking Lyttelton Harbour from the island's highest peak.

A nine-metre tall pou whenua now stands guard over Quail Island.

The carved pillar – called Te Hamo o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa – is used to mark territorial boundaries and areas of significance.

It overlooks Lyttelton Harbour from the highest point of the 81-hectare pest-free island and was blessed by about 60 Ngāti Wheke whānau on Sunday.

The 650kg pou whenua, Te Hamo o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa, was lowered onto its place by a helicopter at the height of Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour.

It was carved and painted at the Whakaraupō Carving Centre in Lyttelton over three months, before a helicopter carried the 650 kilogram post across the harbour and fitted it into a concrete base.

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A nine-metre high pou whenua, Te Hamo o Tū Te Rakiwhānoa, has been installed on Quail Island.

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The pou whenua took three months to carve and paint and has now been installed on Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour.

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Department of Conservation operations manager Andy Thompson said it was supportive of the iwi-initiated installation.

About 60 Ngāti Wheke whānau gather to bless the new pou whenua on May 26.

The island was used by Māori as a base for mahinga kai - food gathering - and farmed from the 1850s. It was later used as a quarantine station for animals and people, he said.

'While the European history of the island is marked by various buildings on the island, the pou represents the significant cultural history of the island and its importance to Ngāti Wheke.'

The pou would 'enrich' the experience for the approximately 16,000 people who visited Ōtamahua every year, he said.

Ngāti Wheke chairman Manaia Rehu said whānau were thrilled to be able to look out from the Rāpaki marae and see the pou across the harbour.

'Ōtamahua has always been special to us and to be able to see the pou from Rāpaki reminds everyone of its importance and why we need to stay connected to it.'

It commissioned the carving centre to create the pou with funding from Ngāi Tahu.

Master carver Caine Tauwhare said the te hamo was a digging implement used to plant kūmara.

'On the side of the pou you'll see a piece jutting out, this is called the teka. Our ancestors would put their foot on this as they held the kō to dig a hole and plant the kūmara.'

Canterbury was, to his knowledge, the most southern point in the country to grow kūmara.