THE LEGEND RSS

The word ‘Pounamu’ is the term used by Māori for nephrite jade. The word greenstone is also commonly used in NZ, however the people of Aotearoa prefer to call it pounamu as jade comes in many different colour variations not just green. There is a lot of confusion around different names to describe jade, basically greenstone, jade and pounamu are all the same thing. Below is a description of the most common pounamu types found in New Zealand.   –Inanga. Pearly white, greyish green, and blue can be translucent or very opaque. This type of stone is a highly prized type...

Tools At first, Māori used the stone to make tools such as adzes, chisels, gouges and knives for carving and cutting wood. Sometimes they made fish hooks, hammer stones and points for spears. They used sandstone to shape the pounamu. Adornment Māori made pounamu into earrings, necklaces and rings. The most well-known type of neck pendant is called the tiki. This is shaped like a figure sitting cross-legged, with its head on one side. Symbol of a chief Pounamu weapons were used for fighting, but they were also carried by chiefs to show their high status. They were also used...

Poutini the taniwha swims up and down the west coast of the South Island, protecting both the people and the mauri of Pounamu. Many of the oral histories of Pounamu revolve around Poutini coming across a woman bathing in the northern seas of the Bay Of Plenty. This beautiful woman, Waitaiki, enchanted the taniwha, who kidnapped her and fled south with his prize. Waitaiki’s husband, the chief Tamaahua, discovered she was missing. Aided by a tekatekahe tracked them south. During Poutini’s flight the taniwha lit fires to keep Waitaiki warm. Amidst the charred remains of each fire, Tamaahua found precious stone. The continued...