Faiga Su’a’s talk on Pātaka’s pou held on 3 April was Friends latest joint event with Pātaka and was a very enjoyable evening with a lovely atmosphere.
The pou in Pātaka’s spine celebrate Porirua’s master carvers, each with its own mana and story of legends. While they have been an unmissable presence in the spine for all the years we have visited, what they signify has been unclear to many of us.
Faiga’s very engaging floor talk was enlightening as he shared the stories he learned from interviewing each carver, and introduced us to each pou, their meaning and symbolism. We were delighted Wi Taepa was present to comment on his two pou.
Pātaka provided the internship for Faiga to collate documentation about the pou and interview the carvers, to complete his last paper for the Master of Indigenous Studies (MIndS) programme at
Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University.
It is a first step to enhancing the information available through an indigenous lens that will help in their interpretation for audiences in the future.