Vin Wells and Jack Kapinga, Pukearuhe
Production date
Mar 1968
Description
Shows two men standing on a hill at Pukearuhe. The man in the white shirt kneeling down is Vin Wells. He is holding Poutama Whiria. The man standing behind him is Jack Kapinga.
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Object detail
Artist/Maker
Production role
Photographer
Production date
Mar 1968
Production place
Production period
Subject person
Classification
Collection
Current rights
Accession number
PHO2011-0473
Collection type
Material
Public comments
From Byrne, G.M. (1995). Wai143 Report. Waitangi Tribunal, pp. 20-21. "8.2.2 Poutama Whiria In February 1923 (co-incidentally the same month that the Whiteley monument was erected on the Historic Reserve), Mr Vincent Wells, then 19 years of age, found Poutama Whiria, on his father's farm at White Cliffs, Pukearuhe.132 This adze is believed to have been brought to Aotearoa in the Tokomaru canoe.133 According to tradition, the adze was used to cut bush around the site of the original pa named Te Hawera, close to Pukearuhe. It was also used in warfare, and was therefore considered by Maori to be highly tapu. In The Coming of the Maori (1952), Te Rangi Hiroa recounted the traditional history of the adze and the circumstances of its re-discovery in 1923.134 He tells how '[o]ne night a young girl of the Ngati Tama dreamt that Poutamawhiria had been found at the neighbouring village of Pukearuhe by a European farmer' and that on visiting the farm, the girl's father, Te Kapinga, discovered that the large stone adze had recently been found. 135 Te Rangi Hiroa states a Mr Black as finding the adze. The Wells and Ellis parties claim, however, that this is an error and that it was actually Mr Vincent Wells who found the adze.136 Wells later returned the adze to Ngati Tama kaumata who informed him that there would also be a large greenstone buried in the same area. Seventeen years later he found the greenstone on his property.137 At a ceremony held on 30 September 1927, Poutama Whiria was entrusted to the Taranaki Museum.138 Three local Maori chiefs -Kapinga for Ngati Tama, Rangi Matatoro for Ngati Awa, and Noho Te Whiti for Tarankai -were appointed as co-trustees of the Museum to act with the European members.139 Both the adze and the greenstone are currently on display in the Taranaki Museum in New Plymouth.
- Adam Blake posted 8 months ago.
The man standing along side is Jack Kapinga, not 'Jack Kupe'. Many thanks
- Te Amoroa Clifton posted 3 years ago.