Carvings restore Māori presence in historic Russell

Kaiwhakairo (carver) Tony Makiha and Kororāreka Marae chairwoman Deb Rewiri with the freshly installed waharoa (gateway). Photo / Kororāreka Marae Komiti

The days when visitors could arrive in Russell and not realise the town's significance to Māori are over.

Anyone arriving in the Bay of Islands town by water — the route taken by most visitors even today — is now confronted first with a bigger-than-lifesize warrior brandishing a taiaha and then, as they leave the wharf, a monumental carved waharoa, or gateway.

The carvings, made from tōtara over a 14-month-period by Tony Makiha of Mystix Studio in Paihia, were revealed before dawn on Saturday.

The project was driven by Kororāreka Marae chairwoman Deb Rewiri but was the fruition of a community-wide fundraising and planning effort.

Rewiri said Russell, or Kororāreka, was the economic and social hub of New Zealand in the first few decades of the 19th century, with entrepreneurial Māori driving trade with whalers and sailors.

While Russell's colonial heritage had been well preserved in its waterfront buildings and historic cottages, there had been little obvious sign of its Māori heritage.

It was also the only town in Northland that didn't have its original Māori name.

''We didn't have any symbolism of te ao Māori (the Māori world) within Kororareka, yet this was a community inhabited by Ngāre Raumati who held mana whenua 600 years before Cook sailed in,'' Rewiri said.

''Until now a casual visitor to Kororāreka would never know our people had ever lived here, let alone had a thriving culture for centuries. With these whakairo (carvings) we firmly and proudly put that right.''

Kaiwhakairo (carver) Tony Makiha with the waharoa (gateway) just before Saturday's unveiling. Photo / Peter de Graaf

The wheku, or carved face, at the centre of the 4.5m-high waharoa represents the many rangatira (chiefs) of Russell's past, but for kaiwhakairo (carver) Tony Makiha it represents Whareumu in particular.

Whareumu was a prominent chief in Kororāreka until 1828, though he was born and died in Taheke, South Hokianga, where Makiha also comes from.

''I want people to think about history, which goes well beyond the Treaty,'' Makiha said.

''I want people to look where they come from, where their family comes from, and go and seek that.''

The other carving, a wero or taki (challenge), is the first thing visitors see as they arrive by ferry. The 2.5m-tall figure tops a post in the water just off the wharf with a clear message to visitors.

''It challenges people to look after the whenua (land). It says, 'Be careful, you are coming onto my whenua — but if you behave and look after me, I'll look after you'.''

Russell resident and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley co-ordinated the fundraising for the ''fabulously collaborative'' project.

Raising the money was a challenge during a pandemic but a wide variety of parties contributed and the community was right behind it, she said.

Council-owned company Far North Holdings, which operated the wharf and was committed to including cultural elements in their assets, had covered more than half the cost.

The community had raised the rest through raffles, donations and grant applications.

Shipley said the carvings were unique in the way they had combined Māori and European elements.

''One of the hopes of the marae committee is that people can see themselves in it, whether their ancestors were Māori and had been here for hundreds of years or were descended from Pākehā whalers and traders.''

Makiha had succeeded in giving new interpretations to a traditional art form, she said.

''That's very appropriate for Kororāreka because the town's history long precedes the Treaty, to the chiefs who saw it was in their interests to trade with Pākehā in the very early days. It acknowledges Russell as a shared town, and the strength of both Māori and Pākehā.''

Shipley said her interest in celebrating the nation's dual heritage had been sharpened by her role as co-chair of the Tuia 250 commemorations in 2019.

As well as Far North Holdings, Russell Kororāreka Community Wharf Trust, Lottery Grants Board, Pub Charity, The Duke of Marlborough Hotel and a host of Russell residents contributed to the project.