Roimata Toroa

Roimata Toroa

Nā Ngahina Hohaia te tikanga poi manu o Taranaki i kuhu ki Roimata Toroa, ā, ka hua mai he tāreitanga kupu e takitaki ana i ngā kupu pāpare i te aupēhitanga i pā ki Taranaki. He poi tapu te poi manu hei pupuru i te manawataki o te taki whakapapa me ngā karakira mā te paopao i te poi me hōna waiata, me te aha ka whiua te kōrero i te rere kau o te poi.

Kua tuituia he tohu ki ia poi mā te ringa, 395 te maha o ngā poi i hangaia, ā, he whakakōrero i ngā kōkē o Parihaka i arahi tonu i a rātou ki te ātete i te muru me te raupatu i ngā whenua o Taranaki. I takatūngia a Parihaka i te rautau tekau mā iwa, i te pūtake o Taranaki maunga, arā, te hapori Māori i tere paepae ai ngā iwi o te motu ki a Te Whiti-o-Rongomai rāua ko Tohu Kākahi, te pou whītiki i te mana Māori motuhake.

Ko te raukura ngā raukura toroa e toru, he tino tohu tēnei ki a Parihaka, arā, he tohu i ngā mātāpono me ngā tikanga i aratakina e Te Whiti rāua ko Tohu. Ko ngā kupu o te kauwhau a Tohu Kākahi i te tau 1895, kua tuituia ki ia poi, ‘E kore toou reo e taea te peehi e ngaa maunga nunui o teenei whakatipuranga, E kore toou maangai e taea te koopani e ngaa maunga nunui e ngaa pukepuke o te motu nei.’

He paraikete wūru hangarua i whakamahia hei matū, ā, ko tā Hohaia he whakakaha i te tuku ihotanga o ngā rerenga kētanga ā-utu, ā-mana, i hua mai i te pēhitanga a te Pākehā, me tāna tūkino hoki i a Papatūānuku kia whai rawa nui ai te ao ohanga hōu i Aotearoa nei.

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In Roimata Toroa Ngahina Hohaia takes inspiration from the Taranaki tradition of poi manu, to create a sculptural form of visual chant that speaks defiantly back to the oppressive colonial history of Taranaki. Poi manu is the ceremonial use of poi to maintain the rhythmic timing of reciting whakapapa (genealogy) and karakia (incantations) through poi chant, while the movement of the poi carries the storyline.

Each of these 395 hand-woven poi is embroidered with symbols that collectively present narratives associated with the Parihaka led movement of non-violent resistance to colonial invasion and land confiscation of Taranaki. Established in the 19th century at the base of Taranaki maunga, Parihaka became a pan-tribal Māori community led by Te Whiti-o-Rongomai and Tohu Kākahi, and a stronghold of Māori sovereignty.

The raukura, comprised of three toroa (albatross) feathers, is an iconic symbol of Parihaka, and of the values and liberation ideologies instructed by Te Whiti and Tohu. Text embroidered onto the poi reference a speech made by Tohu Kākahi in 1895, in which the leader declares to the people of Parihaka, ‘your voices will never be suppressed by the great powers of this generation, your mouths will never be shut by the great powers and forces of this country.’

In the use of the works material, second-hand New Zealand wool blankets, Hohaia makes a direct statement about ‘the intergenerational impacts of imbalances of wealth and power acquired through colonial violence, and the modern New Zealand economy built and sustained upon the dispossession and confiscation of Māori land.’