Learn the Maori History of Marlborough
Over seventy carvings tell the stories of exploration of the Marlborough Sounds, local Rangitane whakapapa (ancestry), whanau (family), conquest and love.
Maori Warfare
Rangitane Iwi (people) were recorded as burning their Pa (fortified settlement) in Mahakipawa and Kaituna when they retreated to the hinder land ahead of the onslaught by Te Rauparaha in the early 19th century. Rangitane O Wairau, Totoranui, Anamahunga, Hopai, Mahau, Moi-tapu and Hoiere were captured and eaten with some being enslaved.
However, the Kaituna and Mahakipawa Rangitane were never enslaved and remained in a militant guerrilla lifestyle until the Crown purchased the land in the Marlborough Sounds from them and set aside Native Tribal Reserves as a part payment for giving up their ancestral homeland in favour of colonisation and modernisation.
Arrival of the European
On February 16, 1856 at Orakaiwhea Pa on the east banks of the Kaituna River, Rangitane Iwi of Kaituna and Hoiere ceded all their customary land interests in the Marlborough Sounds as a favour to the Crown, in return for land reserves in Havelock, Kaituna, Hoiere and Mahakapawa. The Crown promised to protect Rangitane "Land, Fisheries, Forestry and estates for as long as they wish to retain them".
A Marlborough Maori population census at that time recorded Rangitane O Kaituna as having 17 adults and five children. Much had been lost.
Renaissance Through Carvings
The carvings in the Shark Nett collection are to replace the ones lost, stolen, burnt, taken by tribal invasion, confiscated by early explorers for museums and artifact hunters. These carvings celebrate the survival of Rangitane.
Learn the fascinating history of the local Rangitane people as told through carvings depicting 18th and 19th century warfare, marriage and love.Take in images of ancestral spirits as they emerge from the carvings and interact with the living landscapes, rivers and waterways to provide protection and safe haven for current generations.
These carvings are dedicated to the former owners and occupiers, ancestors of the Rangitane Iwi of the Marlborough Sounds whose descendents are now scattered all over the world.
