14 Winnipeg Way, Kingston, Wellington City

Pouwhenua - Tawatawa Reserve

Wellington City Walks

We have Bruce Stewart, founder of the Tapu Te Ranga Marae, to thank for this pouwhenua/statue. A Pouwhenua is traditionally a carved wooden pole acting as a boundary marker. This one, carved from massive stone is also a portrayal of Te Rauparaha. Hauling it here from the marae where it was carved involved a major manual effort.
Bruce Stewart's explanation for his action is best described by this excerpt from his DayBook. After explaining how he discovered that there was more to the Wairau Incident than the one-sided European version he wrote:

"My dear mokopuna - this story of Te Rauparaha doesn’t finish there. Years later - in 1979 at our Tapu Te Ranga Marae I saw all the monuments of our colonisers erected all over Wellington City - Queen Victoria - Massey - Fraser - Seddon - Savage - Holyoake - Byrd - to name a few. I thought it would be a good idea to honour a great Maori Leader who'd been put down by generations of colonisers. Te Rauparaha who led a successful migration to Wellington - their descendants are still here. We brought up 3 ton kohatu (rock) from Te Waipounamu and Greg Brightwell - who was living at The Marae carved Them.
It was a huge task for our Tapu Te Ranga Whanau to haul it up to the top of our Maunga-Tawatawa.
We could have pulled them up with our tractor - the boys wouldn't hear of it - they were busting their guts but there was no thought of tractor - it was about raising our Tupuna High- they wanted to do it with their own hands. These Tupuna who stood staunch - shoulder to shoulder against the most powerful World Empire ever. They pulled and pushed their gun carriage - they were the horses - they heaved and hauled their rings out that day - there was no thought of giving up - someone shouted - “ Toia Mai - Te waka - came the repy - Ki Te Urunga - Te Waka - Ki te Moenga - Te Waka - Ki Te Tokoto Ranga I Tokoto Ae - Te Waka!

It was blowing hard when we pulled Te Pouwhenua up the final ramp - we set them in place - Te Rauparaha was looking out to Kapiti and Te Rangihaeata was looking out to Tapu Te Ranga Motu. As soon as The Pou was in its place the wind dropped - it was so sudden it was spooky....."

The Pou sits in the Tawatawa reserve and is a slight diversion from the City to Sea Walkway. The wind may be strong but the views are splendid.

Features

  • Monument
  • Rock

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