Taupō rock art collective Te Waka Hihiri established to preserve precious taonga

Waitahanui Bay artists Te Whaitaima Te Whare (left) and Jeffrey Addison are the founders of Te Waka Hihiri, a Taupō-moana rock art collective. Photo / David Beck

The shores of Lake Taupō comprise a wide range of rock carvings, many of which are kura huna (hidden treasures), and each with its own story and historical significance.

In an effort to preserve and learn about these ancient taonga, Waitahanui artists Te Whaitaima Te Whare and Jeffrey Addison have founded Te Waka Hihiri, a Taupō-moana rock art collective.

Born and raised in Waitahanui, Te Whaitaima (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Raukawa) has been an active supporter of Te Waipounamu māori rock-art heritage since 2015. She has already helped raise awareness and appreciation of Te Waipounamu Māori rock art by performing a rock-art puppet show to thousands of tamariki throughout Aotearoa.

Jeffrey (Kāi Tahu, Te Ātiawa) is a multimedia artist who has been carving and sculpting stories in many mediums – pumice, wood, ferro-cement and pounamu, for three decades. In 1999, he moved with Whaitaima and their two children to Waitahanui. Since then, they have been running a whānau-based arts production partnership creating and touring Toro Pikopiko puppet shows, making children's television programs, children's audiobooks and rock art animation

They say the two main purposes of this newly formed group are to foster the practice of contemporary rock art and to help with the preservation of the Taupō-moana rock art heritage.

In addition to the well-known Okuta Bay rock carvings, there are many other pre-European rock art sites around Lake Taupōnui-a-Tia, often found in places of ancient habitation or at rock shelters on old walking trails.

"It's very important that the core of our enterprise is supporting mana whenua interests in any way we can, in particular that means looking after our Māori rock art heritage and making sure there's a place for it in the future," Jeffrey says.

"I've thought for a long time that ever since those carvings at Okuta Bay were made, Taupō by default has become the rock art capital of Aotearoa. These carvings are like crown jewels.

"But first and foremost, the crown jewels haven't been cleaned in 50 years. They're given pride and place in our community but no time or thought has gone into looking after them."

Te Whaitaima and Jeffrey have received a seed funding grant from the Ministry of Heritage and Culture to establish Te Waka Hihiri as an independent legal entity, and to continue to grow its kaupapa from Waitahanui, on the shores of Lake Taupō.

Since 2018, Jeffrey, Te Whaitaima and Taupō archaeologist Perry Fletcher have been digitally documenting many sites of cultural-historical significance that can inform the context, meaning and current state of preservation of Taupō-moana rock art. This information is being compiled and stored in Te Waka Hihiri digital archives.

"Te Whaitaima and I got involved with rock art through my iwi, from Te Wai Pounamu, and became aware of just how significant is for us as part of our heritage.

"We just thought over time, and we've been guided this way through other people who have been involved, that we should do something about it and form a collective of interested people to take care of our rock art heritage."

In addition to the well-known Okuta Bay rock carvings, there are many other pre-european rock-art sites around lake Taupōnui-a-Tia. Photo / Supplied

One of the group's objectives is to recommence the restoration of the Okuta Bay rock carvings, to be carried out in two stages. With funding already secured from Taupō Creative Communities, Wairakei Geothermal Charitable Trust and Destination Lake Taupō, work is scheduled to begin stage one of restoring and completing the 30 smaller rock carvings at Okuta Bay – in October 2022. The restoration of the large Ngātoroirangi rock carving will start once the funding target required for stage two is reached.

Whaitaima and Jeffrey are seeking members to join Te Waka Hihiri – as either active or passive supporters of Te Waka Hihiri Charitable Trust. More information about the collective, planned meetings, events and ways to contribute, can be found at www.tewakahihiri1.com. They will be holding a public meeting at their home at 2pm on Saturday, June 25.

The active supporters of Te Waka Hihiri will comprise rock artists – carvers and painters, archaeologists, historians and Māori cultural knowledge enthusiasts from local whānau, hapū and hāpori.

The rock art collective is also being assisted by passive supporters, forming relationships with people at Taupō District Council, Department of Conservation, Māori social and business organisations, the rock carvings tourism sector, as well as local and national funding bodies.