Pakohe

Ngāti Kuia are the Tāngata Whenua, the people of this place, Te Tauihu o Te Waka a Māui. We have a long association with Pakohe as the workers and traders of this stone. Pakohe is a taonga which is synonymous with Ngāti Kuia and symbolizes for the Ngāti Kuia people the intense nature of our relationship to the environment, and the mauri or life force that is contained in all parts of the natural environment and binds the spiritual and physical world. Pakohe incorporates the cultural value of Ngāti Kuia mauri; Ngāti Kuia has mana, whakapapa, and historical associations.

We have tikanga and kawa which involve tapu and noa to this taonga. We have a responsibility and an obligation to this taonga and its cultural, spiritual, historic, and traditional values.