• TRAVEL
    • THREE PERFECT DAYS
    • WHERE TO STAY
    • WHAT TO DO
    • ADVENTURE
  • FOOD + DRINK
    • RESTAURANTS
    • BARS + COCKTAILS
    • WINE + BEER
  • CULTURE
    • THE HEMI Q+A
    • TV + FILM
    • MUSIC
    • THEATER
    • SPORTS
    • STYLE + DESIGN
  • Watch
Menu
  • TRAVEL
    • THREE PERFECT DAYS
    • WHERE TO STAY
    • WHAT TO DO
    • ADVENTURE
  • FOOD + DRINK
    • RESTAURANTS
    • BARS + COCKTAILS
    • WINE + BEER
  • CULTURE
    • THE HEMI Q+A
    • TV + FILM
    • MUSIC
    • THEATER
    • SPORTS
    • STYLE + DESIGN
  • Watch
Search
Close
Home > CULTURE > STYLE + DESIGN > Pounamu

A Closer Look at This Classic New Zealand Souvenir

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on pinterest
Share on email
  • by Lynda Brendish
  • July 3, 2018

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DENNIS RADERMACHER

In 1769, during Captain James Cook’s historic circumnavigation of New Zealand, the explorer picked up a small but precious gift: a tiki pendant carved by the Maori from a hard, green stone called pounamu. Cook may have been among the first visitors to bring home the valuable jade (his piece wound up in the Royal Collection Trust), but he wasn’t the last; pounamu remains a sought-after keepsake to this day.

Gemologically, pounamu refers to several varieties of nephrite jade and bowenite—each characterized by varying patterns and opacities of green and yellow—that are found in the South Island’s West Coast waterways. Long revered by the Maori, the stone is believed to be imbued with mana (status) and life force and is therefore tapu (sacred). Popular designs include the spiraling koru, which recalls the unfurling of a young fern, and the manaia, a mythological protector whose three fingers represent birth, life, and death (pictured above, $265).

For pounamu to be considered authentic, it must come from the South Island’s Ngai Tahu tribe, which sells raw stone to only 84 licensed artisans. Those craftspeople, in turn, include an eight-digit traceability barcode with their finished carvings to assure purchasers of the provenance. When you get home with your mementos, you can enter the codes online to authenticate the origin, meaning, and history (whakapapa) of each individual piece.

ngaitahupounamu.com

Need a little extra wanderlust in your inbox?
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

You May Also Like

This Chef is Bringing Traditional Cuisine Back to New Zealand

Three Perfect Days New Zealand

Eric Idle's Holy Grail is a Pile of Garbage

A Mother and Son Journey to New Zealand for Healing Honey

Bryce Dallas Howard Loves Kiwis

  • Design, Hemispheres, Jade, New Zealand, Souvenir, Stone, Style
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on pinterest
Share on email

Recommended

FOOD + DRINKS

This Chef is Bringing Traditional Cuisine Back to New Zealand

  • BY Molly McArdle
Three Perfect Days

Three Perfect Days New Zealand

  • BY Nicholas DeRenzo
Adventure

Eric Idle’s Holy Grail is a Pile of Garbage

  • BY Eric Idle
Adventure

A Mother and Son Journey to New Zealand for Healing Honey

  • BY Chaney Kwak
Hemispheres United Airlines

Hemispheres is the award-winning onboard magazine for United Airlines. The magazine is published by Ink and produced by a dedicated staff of media professionals out of an Ink satellite office in Brooklyn, New York.

Instagram Twitter Facebook-f Youtube

Content

  • Travel
  • Food + Drink
  • Culture
  • Watch

About

  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Advertising
  • Writers Guidelines

Legal

  • Terms + Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Anti-bribery & corruption policy
united_4p_h_w_r.png

© 2020 Ink for United Airlines. All rights reserved