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The Māori word pounamu is derived from namu, an archaic word that describes blue-green (or 'grue') cognate with Tahitian ninamu. [2] Pounamu, also used in New Zealand English, in itself refers to two main types of green stone valued for carving: nephrite jade, classified by Māori as kawakawa, kahurangi, īnanga, and other names depending on colour; and translucent bowenite, a type of ...
While the term mere was, and is, used in some regions to refer exclusively to clubs made from pounamu, [1] in other regions, mere was more broadly used to refer to patu of a similar shape and design made from hardwood (meremere, mere rakau), whalebone (patu paraoa), or stone (patu ōnewa) – in these areas, a mere made from greenstone was known as a mere pounamu or patu pounamu.
The Pounamu Pathway is a $34.5 million New Zealand tourism venture, launched in 2020 by the Māori hapū or subtribe Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae, intended to create four linked visitor experience centres on the West Coast of the South Island.
Māori named the district wāhi pounamu, meaning "place of greenstone", and the South Island came to be called Te Wāhi Pounamu. This somehow evolved into Te Wai Pounamu which means "the water(s) of greenstone" but bears no relation to the original meaning.
Pounamu is esteemed highly by Māori for its beauty, toughness and great hardness; it is used not only for ornaments such as hei-tiki and ear pendants, but also for carving tools, adzes and weapons. Named varieties include translucent green kahurangi , whitish inanga , semi-transparent kawakawa , and tangiwai or bowenite.
It is an important place to Māori for the resource of pounamu (greenstone), only found in a few places in the South Island of New Zealand. When the region was sold to the British Crown in 1860 by the chiefs of Poutini Ngāi Tahu the rights to pounamu on the Arahura River were meant to be retained, these rights were ignored in the deed (Arahura ...
During this time inland Otago was largely used seasonally and for its mineral deposits, first by the Māori digging for pounamu stone, then European settlers searching for gold. With the advent of the railway, and refrigerated trade with Britain, inland Otago became more consistently productive.
Lake Rotopounamu (also known as Greenstone Lake, from the Māori roto (lake) and pounamu (greenstone) [1]) is a secluded lake in the Pihanga Scenic Reserve, in the Tongariro National Park in New Zealand's Central North Island. [2] It lies at the northwest foot of Mt Pihanga, and was formed by a landslide around 10,000 years ago. [1]