''Te Uenuku'', or simply ''Uenuku'', is an early
Māori carving housed at
Te Awamutu Museum
Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamil ...
in the
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
of New Zealand.
''Te Uenuku'' (literally "The Rainbow") represents
Uenuku, a tribal
atua of war who manifests as a rainbow. The
taonga is of extreme significance both to the local
Tainui people and also for its archaeological value.
It is 2.7 metres in height and consists of a simple upright post, the top of which has been carved into a spiral form. From the top of this spiral emerge four waving verticals, reminiscent of the teeth of a comb. The form, though seemingly simple, often causes a powerful reaction in viewers of the artifact. In appearance the carving is very striking and different from the style of carving seen in the later Classic period.
Because of the carving's spiritual and cultural significance, photographs are prohibited without the permission of the
Māori sovereign. One must seek further written permission to publish the photos anywhere, which is more likely to be granted if the sovereign deems it to be for the nation's interest.
Similarly, while the form of ''Te Uenuku'' is a popular motif for New Zealand artists, they must still exercise care in its use because of its sacred significance. It is used in stylised form as the logo of the Māori Broadcasting Agency
Te Māngai Pāho.
History
The carving is unique in form, and bears a noted resemblance to
Hawaiian carving styles. Tainui tradition would suggest that it dates from circa 1400 CE, an era known to New Zealand
ethnologists as
Te Tipunga or Archaic period. Tradition goes on to say that the spirit now inhabiting the carving originated from
Hawaiki,
brought over on the
Tainui canoe
In Māori tradition, ''Tainui'' was one of the great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand approximately 800 years ago. In Māori tradition, the ''Tainui'' waka was commanded by the chief Hoturoa, who had decided ...
inside a stone, which was later placed inside the spiral at the top of the carving. Recent work by the museum has shown that it is made from
totara, a common native New Zealand hard wood.
According to Māori verbal history, around the year 1807 the
Waipa District of the
Waikato was invaded by a strong force led by
Ngāti Toa chief
Pikauterangi. In the
Battle of Hingakākā between Tainui and
Ngāti Maniapoto warriors close to
Lake Ngaroto
Lake Ngaroto is a peat lake in Waipa District of New Zealand.
Located 19 km south of Hamilton and 8 km north-west of Te Awamutu, it has a surface area of , making it the largest of the Waipa peat lakes. The lake is hypertrophic, lea ...
, the sacred carving of ''Te Uenuku'' was lost.
The carving was found buried close to the lake's shore in 1906 when a farmer was draining swampland, and spent some time in the R.W. Bourne collection before being acquired by the Te Awamutu Museum.
The work was the centrepiece of the ''Te Maori
''Te Maori'' (sometimes ''Te Māori'' in modern sources) was a watershed exhibition of Māori art in 1984 (later continued to 1985, 1986 and 1987). It is notable as the first occasion on which Māori art had been exhibited by Māori, and also th ...
'' exhibition which toured North America and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Te Uenuku was on loan to Te Papa museum
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring f ...
in Wellington till September 2011 then returned to its usual resting place at a refurbished display in the Te Awamutu Museum in New Zealand.
References
{{reflist
External links
An image of ''Te Uenuku''
Te Māngai Pāho
an
show two examples of artwork using ''Te Uenuku'' as their inspiration
at NZETC shows an early image of ''Te Uenuku''
Te Awamutu Museum
site of Te Uenuku's current location and refurbishment
Māori culture
Sculptures in New Zealand
Waikato
Te Awamutu
Māori art