Auckland Museum blog

Maua ko pou whakarae

“He Whare tu ki te pae he kai na te ahi. He whare tu ki te tuwatawata koira kee te tohu o te rangatira!”

Ko Syd Kirby taku ingoa, no Te Whakatohea ahau, he kaimahi ahau ki Tamaki paenga Hira. Ko tenei pou whakarae tetahi o nga tino taonga e rata ana ahau ki tenei whare taonga. I nga raa o mua he poupou tenei no tetahi paa tuwatawata I tu ki Opotiki mai tawhiti. Koinei tetahi taonga nui ki ahau ta te mea I ahu mai tenei poupou mai I toku rohe I te tairawhiti.

“The unpallisaded fort is food for the fire, the pallisaded fort is truly the sign of chieftainship!”

My name is Syd Kirby, I hail from Te Whakatohea an east Coast tribe. I work here at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This carved pillar is a carving that is important to me here at the museum. In former times this post was part of the fortified paa at Opitiki. This taonga is a treasure because it comes from my hometown on the East Coast.