HE KORERO MO TE WHARE WHAKAIRO

Te Tumu Herenga Waka is in its symbolic context a traditional whare nui. The form of the house symbolises a human body; the maihi (barge boards) representing the outstretched arms; the tahuhu (ridge pole) representing the backbone; the heke (rafters) representing the ribs and so on. Large ornately carved houses of this kind are a feature of what have been variously termed as the "Classic Maori" or the "Puawaitanga" period of Maori culture (which was observed first hand by Captain Cook). The symbolism and ideas about the space inside Maori houses has a great antiquity, probably as old as Maori culture itself; according to both Maori oral tradition and the archaeological record. Te Tumu Herenga Waka carries on these fundamental concepts.

Yet in other ways Te Tumu Herenga Waka differs from other whare nui, due largely to the fact that it is on a university marae and also because of the new technology that has been employed by master carver Takirirangi Smith and tukutuku exponent Con Te Rata Jones. For example the whare does not represent one particular tupuna as do many other whare. The name 'Te Tumu Herenga Waka" means "the anchorage post of canoes". This name was chosen because there are students from many different iwi and waka at the university. In the house itself a range of modern building materials has been utilised. In the tukutuku panels leather was substituted for pingao and kiekie. Red ochre has been replaced by paint.

Large carved houses like Te Tumu Herenga Waka are not merely vestiges of a by-gone age, rather they are one product of a dynamic and thriving Maori art and cultural tradition that in no small way confirms the strength of taha Maori.

Rob Taylor working on the heke