The carving of a new whare, intended for England, is currently underway as part of a significant exchange for the return of the renowned meeting house, Hinemihi o Te Ao Tawhito. Hinemihi, a wharenui that survived the 1886 Tarawera eruption, has long stood at Clandon Park in the UK, and is now coming home to Aotearoa.
Ngāti Hinemihi carver Kingi Aupouri is one of the ringawhao leading the project. The exchange has offered him a profound connection to his history and the masters who came before him.
“Tene Waitere who originally carved the first Hinemihi alongside with his tutor Wero Tāroi,” Aupouri says. “So for me, I’m sort of taking those of his exact footsteps as well being home as well doing it. I look to his design, his haehae pākati, how he flows it. The usage of it, each carve in that area had their own distinct way of carving.”
Aupouri, a recent graduate of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, noted the project’s impact on his personal growth and understanding of his lineage.
“I’ve really learnt a lot about myself and my place in this kaupapa or in this particular kaupapa but as a carver where I sort of fit in life basically. learning more about my whakapapa while come from learning about more of our nanny’s and koro’s who were artists themselves that I never knew when I was younger. So leading up to this point it’s become really heart warming for me because of learning other the guidance of these fellows.”
Although discussions are ongoing between Ngāti Hinemihi and English heritage groups regarding when and where exactly Hinemihi will return, the project is clearly moving forward. For Aupouri, this work is about ensuring the continuity of Māori art and heritage especially in Te Wairoa where Hinemihi o Te Ao Tawhito originally stood.“In saying that, I think whatever our side do in the futures come back to my roots name that whakairo is always gonna be here. It’s always gonna be in our whānau,” Aupouri says.
He toki whakaharahara e whao nei i ngā awhero o tētehi whare hou
Kua tīmata te kaupapa whakairo i tētahi whare Māori hou mō Ingarangi, hei wāhanga o te tauhokohoko kia hoki mai ai te whare rongonui o Hinemihi ki tōna ūkaipō, ki Aotearoa. I morehu a Hinemihi i te hū o Tarawera 140 tau ki muri, ā, kua roa e tū ana ki Clandon Park i Ingarangi. Ko Kingi Aupouri rāua ko Tawharau Mohi ngā uri whakaheke o Ngāti Hinemihi e whai wāhi ana ki te kaupapa whakahirahira nei.
E kī ana a Kingi Aupouri mōna anō me tōna hononga ki te kaupapa:
“Kia ora, ko Kingi ahau, nō Tūhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Tarawhai, Ngāti Pikiao me Ngāti Porou.”
Mō te whai wāhi ki te whakairo i te whare hou, he maringa nui ki te hunga whakairo. E ai ki a Tawharau Mohi, he whai wāhi tēnei ki te āta wetewete i ngā pukenga o ngā tūpuna.
“Kāore anō ahau kia tae atu ki tērā o o mātou nā whare ki tō mātou tūpuna, nō reira he maringa nui kia noho māua hei kaiwhakairo mō te whare hou, mō te hokinga mai, e āhei anō ai māua te āta wetewete i ngā āhuatanga i kite ai e Wero me Anaha i a rātou e whakairo ana i tērā whare, me ngā āhuatanga i a rātou, ngā pukenga i te wā i a rātou.”
Kei te anga whakamua te kaupapa ahakoa kei te whiriwhiri tonu ngā kōrero mō te wā me te wāhi ka tutuki te hokinga mai o Hinemihi. Ko te tūmanako nui, he whakatupu i te reanga hou.
E kī ana a Mohi, ka noho te whare hei wāhi mō te reanga hou ki te mōhio ki ngā āhuatanga o Hinemihi me Ngāti Rānana.
“Ka noho pea māua hei whakatupu i te reanga hou kia tupu mai rātou i roto i te mīharotanga o tērā whare, anō hoki, ka hoki mai, ki hea rānei e mōhio rātou ki ngā āhuatanga o aua whakairo, ki te āhuatanga o te noho a Hinemihi me Ngāti Rānana me te kōrero ki ngā poupou arā hoki ngā tūmomo whakarei e huna ai ētahi o ngā āhuatanga o te pahunga o Tarawera, te hononga ki a Onslow me Aporo me ērā āhuatanga katoa.”