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It was through the quest of Digger Te Kanawa and myself to find
a way to celebrate the entranceway to Hamilton Gardens that the
sculpture 'Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga' was born. The eroded forms
of the ignimbrite escarpment at Hinuera gave inspiration for the
21 columns. It was appropriate to use this stone too because I'm
told the erosion of this material over thousands of years has
formed much of the land of the Waikato region, carried and deposited
by the Waikato river. The land of Hamilton Gardens is beside the
river. The stone is symbolic of this earth.
The need to symbolically protect five of the hinuera columns
with an earth blanket or Kakahu, a protective woven pebble cloak,
came to me from witnessing too much local, national and international
disrespect for mother earth. Along with protection, the Kakahu
also symbolically honours the wonder of mother earth. 12,000 quartz
pebbles from Southland and 1000 greywacke pebbles from Kaiaua
form the Kakahu which is titled, 'Te Kahu o Papatuanuku'. Three
ancient symbols were translated into stone from a celebrated Korowai
woven in thread by Digger Te Kanawa. they are: Nihoniho, Poutama
and Toorakaraka.
The title for the complete sculpture, 'Nga Uri o Hinetuparimaunga',
was given at the official handover ceremony on 5th april, 2005
by Haare Puke and John Haunui, Kaumatua of Ngati Wairere.
The Kakahu was titled 'Te Kahu o Papatuanuku', on 3rd april,
2005 by Ngati Wairere Kaumatua, Haare Puke, Maniapoto Kaumatua,
Buddy Te Whare and Maniapoto Kuia, weaver, Digger Te Kanawa.
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