ORC reveals name of new building
The Maclaggan St building, owned by Port Otago and leased by the ORC, is to be called Aonui - a prestigious name that encapsulates Kāi Tahu identity throughout time.
Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou ūpoko Edward Ellison said the name had ''great mana and significance'' in both te ao Māori and in Kāi Tahu tradition, and had the endorsement of mana whenua from across the region.
''Given ORC's important role in achieving the sustainable use and management of our environment, and their commitment to partnering with mana whenua, we are delighted to share such a prestigious name for their building.''
Mr Ellison said Aonui related to the pursuit of knowledge in the natural world, and it was the son of Rehua in the celestial world - also known as Antares in Western astronomy.
The waka Āraiteuru , which is synonymous with the Otago coast, had a crew member named Aonui, who sought fresh water and found it at Mata au (Clutha River), and is remembered by the tall basaltic pillar named Aonui (Cooks Head) just north of the Tokomairaro River on the Āraiteuru coastline.
The name and panel designs were provided by mana whenua cultural experts Dr Megan Pōtiki, Paulette Tamati-Elliffe and Mr Ellison.
The pūhoro patterns on the panels were created by Kāi Tahu artist Ephraim Russell, under the guidance of Aukaha's Mana Ahurea design team, and depict the rivers and streams that run through Dunedin - in particular, the awa Toitū that flows down MacLaggan St.
Kāi Tahu shares a deep, cultural connection to freshwater, recognising its vital role in traditions, practices and its symbiotic relationship with the land. Freshwater holds importance as a taoka (precious resource), influencing traditional practices of mahika kai, and fostering a sense of respect, reciprocity, and kaitiakitaka (stewardship).
The location of the build is significant to mana whenua, with the Toitū awa (stream) adjacent to the site of the building, as well as the location of the old Māori hostel nearby.
Otago Regional Council chairwoman Gretchen Robertson said Aonui reflected council's commitment to mana whenua and to the environment.
''We are delighted that mana whenua have endorsed this prestigious name that is solidified in the Otago landscape and pulls together all aspects of the environment, from freshwater to salt water and to air.
''It really highlights the importance council places on our relationship with mana whenua and our joint environmental priorities and aspirations.''
john.lewis@odt.co.nz
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
4 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Man on mission to deter fly-tipping, littering
A South Otago man wants to inspire greater respect for the country's shared natural spaces. Kaitangata retiree John Castel said he had been lobbying regional authorities since 2021 in an attempt to reduce fly-tipping and other littering in the area's remote beauty spots. Mr Castel said the district had several less-frequented locations which he believed were easy for officials to neglect or ignore, as they were "out of sight, out of mind". Following a health issue he began regular dog-walking four years ago, and discovered tracks near Kaitangata and on nearby Inch Clutha appeared to have been neglected for several years, and fly-tipping had become rife. "One spot I walk regularly is the Clutha Mouth 150th Anniversary Walk, on Inch Clutha. If you've never heard of it that's not surprising, because the sign was completely overgrown when I found it, and it's not really promoted anywhere. "I've cleared up truckloads of rubbish from here and other sites at both branches of the Clutha River mouth, including animal carcasses, used diapers, glass and tyres. There was a burnt-out car once. "I just don't understand the mind-set of spoiling such a beautiful place for everyone by dumping your s... here." He said after an initial "run-around" Clutha District Council appeared to be listening to his appeals. However, the situation was complicated by some areas falling under Otago Regional Council (ORC), meaning responsibility for cleanup was not immediately obvious. Mr Castel believed fly-tipping required a broader, "educational" approach. "Part of it is keeping it clean and tidy, so people don't think it's a dump to start with. Then you need to educate people and promote proper litter disposal so they show respect for our shared natural spaces. It's not just a local issue, it's nationwide." Clutha District Council deputy chief executive Jules Witt said Mr Castel had provided input for council publicity regarding fly-tipping. The council responded reactively to dumping, either when alerted by the public, or by the council's ranger and freedom camping officer. "Monitoring is not specifically for littering or dumped rubbish [but] in conjunction with other regular patrol duties. The Inch Clutha parking areas were given higher focus for a period of time during 2024, and this resulted in council staff removing dumped rubbish once and contractors removing rubbish twice. "As a general rule, rubbish dumped below the high-water mark is the responsibility of ORC, whereas anything above the high-water mark is handled by [us]. All dumped rubbish is checked for any identifying information that may lead to the offender." Mr Witt said people could report dumping to the council, which could attract fines of up to $400.
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
More than 15k Māori and Moriori cultural heritage items may be in overseas museums and universities
By Māpuna Photo: All rights Reserved The Kaihautū of Te Papa says there could be well over 15,000 pieces of Māori and Moriori cultural heritage in overseas museums and universities. Arapata Hakiwai, who's been at Te Papa Tongarewa, Museum of New Zealand in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington since it opened in 1998, told Māpuna his work with the museum began with an order from academic Sir Hirini Moko Mead. "He actually said 'Arapata you should go teaching' so I went teaching at Wellington High and he said 'you must go and work for the national museum'. It was very new to me but I found very quickly within the first year or so I was thrown well and truly into the deep end." Hakiwai said he soon realised the museum was outdated and needed to change. "Māori and Moriori ancestors, hundreds, thousands of them were taken, traded, swapped, exchanged, sold to other museums and knowing that our museum was implicitly involved in that at the highest levels." He went on to do research on the number of pieces of Māori and Moriori cultural heritage held in overseas museums and universities. "It's well over the 15, 16 thousand... and this is just a conservative figure because these figures now would be absolutely updated, there's well over 33 museums in the United States, well over 30 museums in the UK that hold Māori taonga and many of them hold large numbers. The Field Museum hold probably one of the largest, over two and a half thousand Māori taonga." The reality is a large percentage of indigenous cultural heritage is held offshore and a large percentage of that comes from an early period and that heritage should be connected back to Māori and Moriori people, Hakiwai said. "The sad reality is over 95 percent wouldn't know off that, wouldn't be aware of the extent of that or where their taonga are, or who have them." This information should be available to Māori and Moriori as matter of right not privilege, he said. Sir Hirini would often say that there are many unique taonga held overseas that we don't have equivalent to back in New Zealand, Hakiwai said. Such as Te Rā in the British Museum The Karanga Aotearoa repatriation programme began in 2003 with a sole focus on tīpuna koiwi or human remains. Hakiwai said many museums throughout the world have agreed to return the tīpuna, a huge change from when the programme started. Many museums in the international community of museums are realising the old practice of 'amassing treasures' can't continue, he said, but there are still museums who keep acquiring. The 1984 Te Māori exhibition has had a huge impact and legacy for the relationships between Māori and overseas museums, he said. "If you take Chicago at the Field Museum, the Field Museum was the last venue of Te Māori and what followed from Te Māori was the restoration of Ruatepupuke, what followed from Te Māori was you had a delegation of staff who traveled over to Tokomaru Bay to say that 'we would like to do something with respect to Ruatepupuke.'" The 19th century wharenui Ruatepupuke originally built in 1881 in Tokomaru Bay now at the Field Museum in Chicago by way of Frankfurt in Germany offers a unique example in to how museums can build partnerships with indigenous people. Maori Meeting House, Ruatepupuke II - Field Museum of Natural History Chicago Photo: Joyofmuseums Hakiwai was involved in the restoration of the wharenui in the 1990s after elders from Tokomaru visited him in Wellington. "They said 'our tīpuna whare is over there but it's unclothed, we need to re-clothe it, it's lonely, it's naked and we want to rectify that'." Initially he believed the project would culminate with the whare's repatriation, but his elders told him "Arapata kia tau te mauri, settle down." They wanted to work with the Field Museum to "reclothe" the whare tūpuna, and it remains in Chicago to this day one of the very few wharenui outside Aotearoa. Hakiwai said he believes museums can have a higher purpose in society by helping to support and uplift the foundations of culture and identity. Even if that means it is time for some of taonga within the collections of Te Papa to return home. "If that is the desire of iwi, hapū and whānau for their taonga to be returned and homed we will work with them to achieve those ends... Having taonga back in their community, in their whenua amongst their people, elevating the histories and their mana and significance surely that's something far greater than taonga sitting on a shelf," he said. It's part of reconciling what can a museum be rather than blindly following what museums are now, he said.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Greer Twiss the ‘Godfather' of contemporary New Zealand sculpture: Laura Vodanovich
In a way I grew up with Twiss, with his work Karangahape Rocks, 1967-69, strongly influencing my young sense of art in public spaces - it was a work that arrested my attention and I would stop and ponder it often. Sculptor Greer Twiss died earlier this month. Photo / Greg Bowker While I was working at Auckland Museum, a project initiated by Outdoor Sculpture 2001, and supported by the Edmiston Trust, installed sculptures throughout the Auckland Domain. Marquette's of these sculptures, including Twiss's work among other significant names in the artworld, were displayed at Auckland Museum in 2004. Some magnificent and striking sculptures were created as part of this initiative, but it was Twiss' work Grafting, that was my very favourite. Grafting is a series of 10 sculptures in the fernery, part of the Wintergardens in the Auckland Domain. These works include nine native birds and a pear tree, each complete with a label typical of those used on specimens you might find in a museum. The individual labels include the Latin, te reo Māori and English 'common' name for each bird, but for the tree just the word pear along with Twiss's signature. Woven through this work you can detect his interest in the colonial period through his use of three forms of classification identifying each native bird. For the pear tree, introduced to Aotearoa by missionary Samuel Marsden, Twiss dispenses with the three names and strips this specimen to just the one common name, pear. His exploration of the colonial period and the 'dialogue between the natural situation and the imposed brought into the situation' has seen him create a number of works on this theme. In 2020 his agent, Jane Sanders, reached out to us to say Twiss would like to offer a work to the Hawke's Bay Museums Trust Tai Ahuriri collection and we were delighted to accept his generous offer. The work, Hobson's Baggage, 1995, is another sculpture exploring the colonial theme. Toni MacKinnon, art curator at the time, wrote that 'Greer Twiss' sculpture brings objects together in unexpected ways… Queen Victoria is loaded into an old suitcase, there is a flag that has no way of fitting into the case, and a watering can! And what is the little lamp about?' Twiss of course made sense of this, pondering what Hobson might have bought in his luggage including, possibly, a bust of Queen Victoria. In his eyes the items all represent something including authority, cultivation and the law. It is a wonderful work to have in our collection and another way in which Twiss has positively influenced my personal relationship with artworks in Aotearoa.
