Te Ahi-kāinga-roa

He uri nō Māui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga a Ngāti Porou, ā, e ai ki ā rātou kōrero tuku iho, kua noho ki tēnei motu mai i te hīnga ake a Māui i Te Ika a Māui. Ko tā *Te Ahi-kāinga-roa*, 2005 he huritao i tēnei kōrero tuku iho a te iwi, me te tino tikanga o tōna ingoa. Ko te tuhinga kua peitahia ki runga i te pātiki, arā ki te rino kōwakawaka āhua taimana, ko:

*I whakarērerea Te Moananui-a-Kiwa,

I tūtaki i Tūranganui-a-Kiwa,

I pakanga mō Hinemoana,

Ka kai tahi ā tātou tamariki i te kūtai tunua ā-ngārehu rino kōwakawaka.*

Kei te tū te waetoru o tēnei umu ānō nei he teihana pākoki o te kairūri. Ko *Te Ahi-kāinga-roa* he tohu mō te hui tahi, me te wehewehe, ka mutu he huritao tēnei mō te Ture o Te Takutai Moana 2004, me te raruraru i pahū mai.

The East Coast iwi (tribe) Ngāti Porou are descendants of Māui-Tikitiki-a-Taranga and claim to have been here ever since Māui fished up the North Island, Te Ika a Maui. *Te Ahi-kāinga-roa*, 2005 reflects upon this tribal coastal narrative and its name means ‘the long burning fires of occupation’. The painted text on the pātiki, the diamond-shaped corrugated iron, reads:

*Sailed Te Moananui-a-Kiwa,

Met at Tūranganui-a-Kiwa,

Fought over Hinemoana,

Will our kids share kūtai over corrugated embers.*

The tripod of this camp oven stands like a surveyor’s trig station. A symbol of both communal gathering and division, *Te Ahi-kāinga-roa* offers a meditation on the Seabed and Foreshore Act 2004 and the conflict it generated.

To find out which artworks are available for print requests and reproduction please enquire here. This service only applies to select artworks in the Gallery's collection.