Sacred pathways

Sacred pathways

I hua mai te tānga nei i te terenga e pā ana ki te hekenga o ngā iwi i Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa mā ngā tohu arahi o taiao, pērā i ngā whetū, i ngā hau, i ngā manu me ngā au o te moana. Kua whakairohia ngā kōkē mō Te Kāhui Maunga, o Taranaki nei. He kāhui tāngata nō mua i te uru waka i tere mai ai ngā waka e whitu, a Aotea, a Kurahaupō, a Tokomaru, a Tainui, a Te Arawa, a Mataatua me Tākitimu - e tohua ana e ngā niho, ngā maunga rānei, e whitu - nā ngā waka nei i kawe mai i ngā tūpuna o te iwi Māori ki ngā takutai o Aotearoa nei.

I te wā i hangaia te taonga nei, he mea nui te whakapapa, ngā hekenga me ngā hononga ā-ahurea, ki a Nicholas. I te tau 1984, i riro i a Darcy Nicholas te karahipi Fullbright ki te rangahau i te ahurea o ngā iwi taketake o Amerika me Awherika. I a ia e parore ana i te taihauāuru o Amerika, me te noho ki ngā iwi taketake o taua wāhi, i rongo ia i ngā kōrero e pā ana ki ngā hononga ki ngā iwi o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, pērā i te iwi Māori. Ka piripono a Nicholas ki te tohunga nō Hawaii, ki a Sam Kaii, me ngā kaiwhakatere waka hoki. I kauterehia e ia te ao, ka tūtaki i te maha o ngā iwi taketake ki te rangahau i hō rātou tikanga me ngā tohu ōrokohanga. He wheako i whakatenatena i a Nicholas ki te māramatanga nui, ‘ko Papatūānuku tonu te whaene, nōna tonu tō tātou mana ki te whenua, ā, me tūtahi tātou kia ora ai tātou.’


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This painting is from a series based on the migrations of peoples throughout Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa with the aid of tohu (signs) such as stars, seasonal winds, bird flight and ocean currents. Embedded in these paintings are the origin narratives of the Te Kāhui maunga people of Taranaki. A people who preceded the arrival of the seven waka Aotea, Kurahaupō, Tokomaru, Tainui, Te Arawa, Mataatua and Tākitimu—represented here as seven maunga or niho—who carried the ancestors of Māori to these shores.

At the time of making this work, Nicholas was intensely interested in whakapapa, migration and the connections between cultures. In 1984, Nicholas received a Fulbright scholarship to observe Native American and African American cultures. During this journey he met with many Native American tribes on the West Coast of America and learned of their links with Pacific peoples, including Māori. Nicholas became closely associated with Hawaiian Kohunga Sam Kaii and Pacific Ocean navigators. He travelled the world meeting other indigenous peoples to learn about the concepts and symbolism of their origins. It was an experience that led Nicholas to the realisation that ‘We are all Mana Whenua of the earth mother and our survival depends on how we stand together united’.

— Text developed for Te Hau Whakatonu: A Series of Never-ending Beginnings (5 August 2023–11 February 2024), curated by Taarati Taiaroa