CBHS Pare Narrative 2018

[b]Corban Te Aika[/b]   [justify]The pare itself takes the name Pūtarikamotu. Pūtarikamotu is a name for the greater Deans’ Bush area. Once upon a time there would have of been a large kahikatea and tōtara forest which would of been about 10 times the size of Deans Bush today. It would of been a meeting place for our tīpuna and a stopover for those from Kaiapoi pā to the North and the various pā of Banks Peninsula. Pūtarikamotu, if we translate it loosely means ‘place your ear to the ground and you will hear the vibrations’. Its a reference to the swampy and marshy area. Despite that, this is the preferred environment for tōtara and kahikatea to grow. There are a number of oral traditions that tells us our tīpuna would of stopped here for a few nights, collecting various resources and continuing on their journey. If they thought they could hear a little it of trouble, they would place their ear to the ground and would supposedly hear the vibrations of their enemies or people moving through the area.[/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]The central figure is Tautahi. Tautahi is one of the major ancestors of Christchurch. The māori name for Christchurch is Ō-Tautahi or ‘belonging to Tautahi’. Tautahi is an important man in whakapapa. He had a pā site situated at the fire station on Kilmore Street. His territory covered the Ōtākaro/Avon river catchment. There is another carved figure on each side of Tautahi. [/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]The figure looking at the pare on the left is Tūrākautahi. Tūrākau is the founder of Kaiapoi pā and from whom the local people Ngāi Tūāhuriri descend from. The figure on the right is Hine-Paaka who is an ancestress who had the ability to communicate with the envrionment and in particular the weather. Before any major distance travels of our tīpuna, they would go to Hine-Paaka to ask her to recite karakia to calm the winds and also the oceans. [/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]At the end of the pare are two more figures, one being the koero (blind spotted eel) and the other being the tuere (white kanakana/lamprey). Both aren’t necessarily the most attractive of the creatures, but nonetheless are the major kaitiaki of the waterways around the Greater Canterbury. Our traditions say they are able to move through the various waterways, including underground caverns which feed many of the waterways around Christchurch.[/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]One of the most important aspects of the pare is the 8 manaia that form the rest of the beam. Each represent one of the waterways which feeds into the Ōtākaro, thus forming the Ōtākaro river, situated next to CBHS.[/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]The pare’s most important role is to look after everyone who walks underneath.[/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify][b]Wiremu Gray[/b][/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]The manaia is a spiritual guardian, there are 8 on the pare and they protect the streams and waterways. There are 2 heads; one that is above to protect all things above water and one below to protect those thing below. The head below represents those old boys and teachers who have passed on and serve to keep them in memory. [/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]There are 4 spirals which represent the school houses and also the impact of whānau of the old boys of this schools. These also represent the four corner post of well being. Te whare whānau, te whare tinana, te whare hinengaro, te whare wairua. [/justify] [justify] [/justify] [justify]Like the name Pūtarikamotu, where our tīpuna would place their ears to the ground to hear the travels of nearby enemies, so too does our school haka that echos from generation to generation. The spirals represents the throwing of stones into the pond and the ripples it creates. If you see Tautahi, he has his ear out so we all listen to each other and talk openly and honestly. [/justify] [justify] [/justify] The eyes are of greenstone and gifted by my father.