Pounamu pendant.

From space, the west coast of New Zealand resembles the greenstone for which it is named.

Pounamu is several types of hard, durable and highly valued nephrite jade, bowenite, or serpentinite found in New Zealand. Pounamu is the Māori name. The rocks are also generically known as "greenstone" in New Zealand English.

There are two systems for classifying pounamu. Geologically the rock falls into the three categories named above, but Māori classify pounamu by appearance.^[1] The main classifications are kawakawa, kahurangi, īnanga, and tangiwai. The first three are nephrite jade, while tangiwai is a form of bowenite.^[2]

• Īnanga pounamu takes its name from a native freshwater fish (Galaxias maculatus) and is pearly-white or grey-green in colour and varies from translucent to opaque.^[3]

• Kahurangi pounamu is highly translucent and a vivid shade of green. It is named after the clearness of the sky and is the rarest variety of pounamu.^[4]

• Kawakawa pounamu comes in many shades, often with flecks or inclusions, and is named after the leaves of the native kawakawa tree (Macropiper excelsum). It is the most common variety of pounamu.^[5]

• Tangiwai pounamu is clear like glass but in a wide range of shades. The name comes from the word for the tears that come from great sorrow.^[6]

In modern usage pounamu almost always refers to nephrite jade. Pounamu is generally found in rivers in specific parts of the South Island as nondescript boulders and stones. These are difficult to identify as pounamu without cutting them open.

Significance to Māori[link]

Pounamu plays a very important role in Māori culture. It is considered a taonga (treasure). Pounamu taonga increase in mana (prestige) as they pass from one generation to another. The most prized taonga are those with known histories going back many generations. These are believed to have their own mana and were often given as gifts to seal important agreements. Pounamu taonga include tools such as chisels (whao) and adzes (toki), fishing hooks and lures, and bird leg rings (kākā poria); weapons such as mere (short handled clubs); and ornaments such as pendants (hei-tiki, hei matau and pekapeka), ear pendents, and cloak pins.^[7][8]

It is found only in the South Island of New Zealand, known in Māori as Te Wai Pounamu ("The [land of] Greenstone Water") or Te Wahi Pounamu ("The Place of Greenstone"). In 1997 the Crown handed back the ownership of all naturally occurring pounamu to the South Island tribe Ngāi Tahu,^[9][10] as part of the Ngai Tahu Claims Settlement.

Modern use[link]

Jewellery and other decorative items made from gold and pounamu was particularly fashionable in New Zealand in the Victorian and Edwardian years in the late 19th and early 20th century.^[11][12] It continues to be popular among New Zealanders and is often presented as gifts to visitors and to New Zealanders moving overseas. Viggo Mortensen, Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings, took to wearing a hei matau around his neck. Michael Hurst of the television programme Hercules was given a large and heavy pounamu pendant necklace which he wore on the programme. During a particularly energetic action scene the pendant bumped his teeth. The producers felt the ornament suited the nature of the programme yet considered it a safety risk, and had it replaced with a latex replica.

References and notes[link]

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  Maori Wahine with Matt of Kiwi Feather and Pendent Heitiki.

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  Maori chief holding a Mere weapon.

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  Maori woman with tattoed chin wearing a pekapeka pendant.

External links[link]

• Pounamu, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
• "Pounamu – jade or greenstone" in Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• Examples of pounamu taonga (Māori treasures) from the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
• First over the Alps: The epic of Raureka and the Greenstone by James Cowan (eText)
• Photo of woman wearing a greenstone neck pendant
• Photo of greenstone tiki
• Photo of greenstone mere