Tumatauenga – God of War

Pakanga – War

Kowhaiwhai Design: Based on ‘Mangotipi’, The white pointer shark. For me this design represents strength and determination.

The  flint lock musket: The first muskets were traded by the earlier visitors to New Zealand,   the whalers and sealers.  Up till about 1840 missionaries estimated the lost of Maori lives by directly or indirectly introducing muskets was approximately 80 000.

Mau Raku – To grasp a weapon.

A traditional Maori martial art complemented by Mau – hand to hand combat.

Traditional weapons:

Kotiate

Taiaha

Wahaika

Tewhatewha

Mere

War was a splendid thing for Maori. A great deal of ‘mana’ could be gained by a warrior who fought well in a battle.

Mana was part of everyday life for the Maori. It means different things in different circumstances; Honour, Prestige, Authority, Psychic Power, Influence, skill or nobleness. Mana could be lost or gained. A greenstone mere (short club) could have high levels of mana due to it having been passed down through generations of chiefs or possibly having killed important people.

The design of this work was inspired by the monument at Poverty Bay of which I visited in January 2007. The round stone that Cook is standing on is a globe marked with his great voyages.  Poverty Bay was originally named Endeavour Bay as it was the first part of New Zealand that the Ship ‘Endeavour’ weighed anchor. However there was a skirmish with the locals and the Endeavour had to leave without any fresh supplies or positive relations with the local natives.

Red kowhaiwhai design: Patiki or flounder, a symbol of hospitality

The box at the top of the art work includes the list of people on board the Endeavour.

Admiralty Instructions to Cook

“You are likewise to observe the Genius, Temper, Disposition and number of the Natives, if there be any, and ENDEAVOUR by all proper means to cultivate a friendship and alliance with them.”

Tumatauenga – God of War

Pakanga – War

Kowhaiwhai Design: Based on ‘Mangotipi’, The white pointer shark. For me this design represents strength and determination.

The map of New Zealand shows all the tribal districts.

War was a splendid thing for Maori. A great deal of ‘mana’ could be gained by a warrior who fought well in a battle.

Mana was part of everyday life for the Maori. It means different things in different circumstances; Honour, Prestige, Authority, Psychic Power, Influence, skill or nobleness. Mana could be lost or gained. A greenstone mere (short club) could have high levels of mana due to it having been passed down through generations of chiefs or possibly having killed important people.

A journey can be an expedition across land and water or it can be a path through time. This work is about both; it outlines important historical moments in time for Aotearoa; it is about the physical journeys that the early Maori and European immigrants made along with my research journey I embarked on in January 2007 of which I have marked with the red dotted lines.

The Date – A.D.925 – The approximate date that Kupe, the legendary Polynesian explorer first arrived in Aotearoa. – 2007 – The year I embarked on my journey throughout the North and South Islands.

The pencil drawings on the lower part are images I saw whilst traveling, they include Waitangi House and the bones of a Moa’s foot among other things.

Red Kowhaiwhai Design: Patiki or Flounder, a symbol of hospitality (a matter of very great importance to the Maori of old and new)

The Map:           The title and some of the information on the original map is what is written on the left hand side of the painting including the date it was created.  The original map was done by Vincendon Dumoulin on the discoveries made by d’Urville during his visits in New Zealand.

Fleur-de-lis:       The design can be found in many places long before heraldic times, as far back as Mesopotamia. It is essentially a stylized flower, and served as a decorative element and became associated over time with royalty, especially in the High Middle Ages.

The Roman Catholic Church ascribed the lily as the special emblem of the Virgin Mary.  Due to its three “petals,” the fleur-de-lis has also been used to represent the Holy Trinity. Joan of Arc carried a white banner that showed God blessing the French royal emblem, the fleur-de-lis.

Flags:

1) United Tribes of New Zealand.  This flag was created before New Zealand was a British Colony.  March 20, 1834, 25 Chiefs from the Far North gathered at Waitangi to choose the flag to represent New Zealand.

2) British Union Jack

3) Modern French Flag

Kowhaiwhai Design: Patiki or flounder. This is a symbol of hospitality from the Pare Hauraki area. The kowhaiwhai is done in a pale blue to be reminiscent of the French colours used during that period.

13 December, the ‘St. Jean Baptise’ rounds Cape Marie Van Diemen and passes the Endeavour with neither Ship sighting the other due to bad weather conditions.

Celestial Navigation:

Celestial Navigation has been used throughout many centuries by various different cultures around the world. With accurate observations and often the use of a ‘Nautical Almanac’ it is a reliable method of navigation in the open ocean.

Sextant:  The sextant is a precision instrument for celestial navigation that has stood the test of time.  The main function of a sextant is to measure the angle of a heavenly body above the horizon. The basic procedure of using a sextant is to set the reading on zero then identify the heavenly body (sun, star or moon) through the telescope (it will appear on the mirror). Then slowly lower the sextant, moving the index arm at the same time keeping the star in sight of the mirror until the horizon appears in the clear part of the glass. The reading is taken when the image of the star is just touching the horizon.

Te Kapehu Whetu: The Maori star compass- divides the 360 degrees around the canoe in the open ocean into different whare (houses). The location of these houses depends on where the sun, moon, and stars set and rise. The Navigator then keeps the canoe on a course relative to these observations.

Pacific Navigation Chart: These are made by tying sticks together and attaching tiny shells to represent islands. The curved or diagonal sticks represented swell and wave patterns. These ancient navigation aids were once vital for island hoping. They weren’t however carried on board; they would be committed to memory by young navigators.

Named after the book ‘Adventure in New Zealand’ by Edward Jerningham Wakefield. Edward Jerningham Wakefield was the son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield who was the principle force behind the organized colonization of New Zealand. E.J.Wakefield traveled to New Zealand on the Tory with his uncle Colonel William Wakefield in 1839.

The passage on the lower right corner of the painting is a quote from this book which really struck a chord with me. In January of 2007 I went to Queen Charlotte Sounds and Ship Cove; whilst there I stood on the beach and contemplated Cooks arrival; the garden he planted and the small structures that had been erected. When I returned back to Wellington I began to read ‘Adventure in New Zealand’ and had to smile to think that no less than 168 years earlier E.J.Wakefield had done the exact same thing!

– The map is based on a copy of Cooks original charts of New Zealand that I bought whilst at Waitangi house in the Bay of Islands.

– The cannon in the lower centre is one of two that are protecting the monument at Ship Cove today.