Te pou i te ara tika i ngaro
The kaikaraka called to her, from Pareora Beach.
The whānau gathered.
Knives glinted in the sun.
She knew, her koha would be honoured.
Teoti Jardine 29 May, 2014.
A dead 11.3metre sub-adult humpback whale washed ashore last month at Pareora and the Department of Conservation granted a permit for Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua to carry out a customary recovery of whale taonga. This was the second humpback stranding incident after the Wainono ‘Te Haumi’ whale event in late August 2013. The rūnanga contacted Māori whale consultant, Ramari Stewart and she arrived from the West Coast with a supply of specialist equipment.
