Warm Greetings - Malo e Lava Mai - Tena Tatou Katoa
With Tohungatanga, our Whakairo, our Arts we create Taonga.
These cultural treasures express our Tinorangatiratanga.
They nurture our Wairua, protect our Mauri, and uphold our Mana.
We value and respect the sacredness, power, and authority
intrinsic in our natural and spiritual world.
Our Taonga give our Tupuna, Whanau, Tamariki, Mokopuna a greater voice.
Our beautiful and awe-inspiring Pou Kapua symbolises our culture.
Pou Kapua reveals the trials of our past, the challenges of the present, the freedoms of our future.
Carved at the top of Pou Kapua is the great explorer Kupe in the centre of two large tauihu (waka prow). Aboriginal Dreamtime Serpent, Rapa Nui Makemake, and Cree Warriors surround him. Matakerepo in regal purple says, “I am blind, yet I can see. From the past, ancient futures are revealed.” A visionary, she guides the intricate work of our Tohunga, Carvers, and Kainga Toi / Artists.
Pou Kapua is recognised as the largest Māori / Pacific Pou / totem in the world, reaching over 80 feet in height and weighing more than 20 tonnes. Pou Kapua is carved from 2,000 year-old magnificent ancient Kauri from the forests of the northern iwi / tribes; 50,000 year-old swamp kauri; 1,000 year old totara; is supported with carved steel; and adorned with paua, pounamu, bone and crystal.
Pou Kapua has two kaitiaki / guardians - Moai named Hoahakananaia and Anakena, carved by expert sculptors from Rapa Nui (Easter Island). At the base of Pou Kapua stands mighty Tangaroa, the Guardian of the Ocean. Above him are Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatuanuku (Earth Mother). Throughout Pou Kapua dozens of guardians and legendary figures are depicted, including Tane (Forest), Tawhirimatea (Winds), Tumatauenga (War), Ruaumoko (Volcanoes), Rongo (Peace), Haumiatiketike (Plants); Maui, Matakerepo, Tawhaki, Mahuika, Pele, and many more. We have stories of 'ohana', the taro providing the roots of family for the people of Hawaii; stories of Kanak of New Caledonia; Aboriginal dreamtime, Tlingit killer whales, and Cree warriors to name a few.
Threaded throughout Pou Kapua are the journeys and adventures of our ancestors, with Kupe at the top; fascinating legends and absorbing histories of our migrations throughout the magnificent Pacific Ocean. A spiritual rope of unity binds tribes and people together.
Hundreds of people helped to bring Pou Kapua to life in the human world
for peoples of the four winds to see and feel.
We invite you to visit Pou Kapua any time, day or night, at 770 Great South Road, Wiri, Manukau, Aotearoa New Zealand
Beautiful Matamaka Island, Vava’u Group, Kingdom of Tonga - drone pic taken during our Pou Kapua GRID Pacific team visit with Google in 2018
Pou Kapua Creations warmly welcomes you to our Global Kainga,
our ever-increasing extended Whanau / Family who are passionate about supporting our peoples -
Pacific, Maori and Indigenous from across the earth, islands and oceans of our wonderful planet.
Pou Kapua Creations seeks to ignite and empower traditional knowledge holders, contemporary scholars, educators, practitioners and artisans from Aotearoa New Zealand, the Pacific, and from around the globe to come together and collectively expand the horizons of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous language, knowledge and practice. With thought, word and symbol, we focus on making our natural native world visible through our culture, art and science.
Pou Kapua Creations supports the aim of our Global Kainga to participate more fully in the knowledge society and economy by enhancing education, stimulating innovation, combining action research and development with dynamic evaluation to achieve socio-cultural health and wellbeing, holistic wealth, and realise their vision of Whanau Ora.
Pou Kapua Creations creates wonderful Taonga Oranga. These keep our Maori, Pacific and Indigenous cultures alive through nurturing our creative spirit; they provide us with a safe space and place for connecting / re-building relationships; teach us as they express ancient stories of health, moui lelei, fanau ola, hauora and remind us of our responsibilities regarding the earth, seas, skies, nature - indeed of all living things!
Umata e! Aloha e! Aniwaniwa tonu e!
E Ao ake nei ... Hau mi e ... Hui e ... Ta iki e...