Pakaariki "Paki" Harrison (6 July 1928 – 29 December 2008) was a New Zealand master carver from

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zeala ...

. He is regarded as one of New Zealand's greatest carvers.

Early life

Harrison was born in

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the M ...

, the eldest of 21 children. He was raised by his grandmother

Materoa Reedy Materoa Reedy (née Ngarimu, 1881–1944) was a New Zealand tribal leader. Of Māori descent, she identified with the Ngati Porou iwi. She was born in Maraeke, East Coast, New Zealand in 1881, the daughter of Tuta Ngarimu and Makere Rairi. ...

and attended Hiruhārama Native School. Whilst attending

Te Aute College Te Aute College (Māori: Te Kura o Te Aute) is a school in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. It opened in 1854 with twelve pupils under Samuel Williams, an Anglican missionary, and nephew and son-in-law of Bishop William Williams. It has a ...

, Harrison was introduced to carving by master carver,

Pine Taiapa Pineamine "Pine" Taiapa (1901–1972) was a notable New Zealand wood carver, farmer, rehabilitation officer, writer and genealogist. He was one of the first students of the School of Māori Arts in Rotorua under Āpirana Ngata. As a carver ...

who became a lifelong influence. He was educated at Massey University and Auckland Teachers College.

Marriage

Harrison married Hinemoa Rakena (b. 1931), also a Māori artist, who is noted for her traditional weaving, especially

tukutuku Tukutuku panelling is a distinctive art form of the Māori people of New Zealand, a traditional latticework used to decorate meeting houses (wharenui). Other names are tuitui and arapaki. Tukutuku flank the posts around the edge of the wharenui ...

panelling. Between them, they worked on the construction and decoration of many

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...

and other

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

buildings.

Carving

Ranginui Walker writes that Harrison possessed "immense knowledge about the traditional arts of the carver, extending way beyond the actual physical arts to include its most ancient aspects - the symbolism contained in Māori art - to its role in transmitting old tribal history". Harrison wrote, taught and researched the art of Māori carving. With the support of his wife Hinemoa, Harrison supervised the construction of ten carved wharenui including: Te Waiariki at Whaiora marae, Otara (1977); Te Ōtāwhao at Te Awamutu College (1985); Tānenuiārangi at Waipapa marae,

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

(1988); Rākairoa, Haratuanga marae, Kennedy Bay (1996); and Ngā Kete Wānanga,

Manukau Institute of Technology Established in 1970, Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) ( mi, Te Whare Takiura o Manukau) is a large Category One institute of technology in Auckland, New Zealand. Category One is the highest possible educational rating as evaluated by the ...

, Otara (1999).

Recognition

Harrison was awarded an honorary LittD by the University of Auckland in 1991. In 1997, Harrison and his wife, Hinemoa, received Te Tohu mō Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu: Supreme Award from Creative New Zealand. In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, Harrison was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

for community service. In 2002, Harrison was named as the leader of the design team for Toi Iho / Māori Made mark for Creative New Zealand. The same year, ''He Tohunga Whakairo'', a documentary about Harrison, directed by Moana Maniapoto and Toby Mills, won best Māori language programme at the New Zealand Television Awards. Harrison was named a living icon of New Zealand arts by the

Arts Foundation of New Zealand 'The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The concept ...

in 2005. In 2008, a biography of Harrison written by Ranginui Walker, ''Tohunga Whakairo: Paki Harrison, The Story of a Master Carver'' was published by Penguin Books.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Pakariki 1928 births 2008 deaths Massey University alumni Ngāti Porou people New Zealand artists New Zealand Māori carvers Companions of the Queen's Service Order People from Ruatoria