Blogs by Ben Brown
Te Tatau Pounamu The Greenstone Door Chapter 1
The greenstone door is a tohu; a potent symbol, of peace in the Māori world. It’s an idea, not an
artefact. Te Tatau Pounamu is a metaphor that allowed seemingly intransigent antagonists to
consider alternatives to war and ongoing conflict. It’s an arrangement in lieu of a battle.
Generational enemies could bury the hatchet by walking through the greenstone door. The
concept reflects a small part of the overall intrinsic worth of this taonga, this national treasure that
is Pounamu, whose value equates with life, yielding alliance and cooperation where bloodshed
seemed otherwise inevitable. Te Tatau Pounamu speaks to the inherent mana of the stone, of its
authority, of its strength, of a kind of spiritual power that seems to emanate from within it. We can
see as well how its physical characteristics; its depth of colour, its density and weight, its hardness
and durability, seems to reflect the character of the landscape from which it emerges, at once
beautiful and mysterious and enduring. But it’s this aspect of mana above all other qualities, that I
think best explains the place of Pounamu within the Māori world view and by extension, the
broader story that is New Zealand.
Mana begins with whakapapa. It is a....
Moko Pounamu Knowledge Library
Owen Mapp is a highly regarded bone carver from Aotearoa New Zealand. At Moko Pounamu we are privileged to have some of Owen’s collection of pieces for sale in our retail shop and online.
We welcome anyone would like to come in to view the collection in person.
The arrival of a pēpi (baby) ignites any whānau with joy and a sense of connection. As we gather for their naming, tohi (dedication), or baptism, we seek taonga that embody our hopes and anchor them to their whakapapa.
