In a reserve beside the Waikato River and adjacent to the Huntly Power Station is this taonga, ‘Te Ahurei O Waikato’, created by Lyonel Grant. The sculpture was unveiled by Tuwharetoa paramount chief Tumu te Heuheu.

The work was made in consultation with the Tainui Maori Trust Board, and commemorates the signing of the Waikato Raupatu Land Deed of Settlement between Waikato-Tainui and the Crown on 22nd of May 1995, which included the return to Tainui of 18,000ha of land wrongly confiscated by the Crown.

A plaque on site reads:

‘TE AHUREI O WAIKATO’

Ko nga Kupu a “Te Ahurei O Waikato” kei roto i ana Whakaaturanga.
Ko te Whakapakoko e whakaatu ana i nga Iwi o Waikato e pou ana i te Pou Rahui ki roto ki te whenua, hei tohu no ratou te whenua me ratou no te whenua.
Ko nga Pou Whakarei e tu raarangi nga i nga tahi e rua o te whakapakoko, e whakaatu ana i nga Maunga o Waikato, ko te maatotorutanga o aua Pou Totara, ko te rau whakaahuru o nga Hapu o Waikato.
E whakatau ana te wai e rere na ki tona mauri o Te Awa O Waikato.
Ko enei whakaaturanga katoa, kei roto i te waka, he tohu whakaari mo te hononga o te Iwi o Waikato ki o ratou tupuna o te Waka O Tainui.

E whakapumau ana a Te Ahurei i te mana tuturu o nga Iwi o Waikato ki nga whenua o o ratou tupuna, me te whakaari ano i teneo tohu whakamaharatanga mo te Pukapuka Whakaae i hainangia e Waikato raua ko Te Karauna i te 22 o nga ta o Haratua 1995, mo nga Whenua o Waikato i Raupatutia.

Taku Ihi
Taku Tapu
Taku Mana
Taku Whenua
Koia enei nga kupu tohu a te Maori

The message of “Te Ahurei O Waikato” lies in its elements.
The sculpture portrays the people of Waikato thrusting the sacred stake into the land confirming that it belongs to them and they to it.
The large totara palisades along both sides of the sculpture pose a profile symbolising the mountains of Waikato, supported by the abundant totara standards representing the sub tribes of Waikato.
The flowing water acknowledges the spiritual lifeforce of the Waikato River. All are contained in a form of a canoe, linking the Waikato tribe to their ancestors from the Tainui Canoe.

Te Ahurei affirms the historical rights that Waikato people have over their ancestral lands and commemorates the Waikato Raupatu Land Deed of Settlement between Waikato-Tainui and the Crown signed 22nd of May 1995.

Here is my essence
Here is my spirit
Here is my standing, and
This is our land.
“It is with these values that Waikato Maori identify themselves.”

Unveiled 15th of May 1998 by Te Ariki Tumu Te Heuheu, Ngati Tuwharetoa

The unveiling ceremony included the arrival of 150 Maori warriors in five waka (source: NZ Herald), and was attended by ECNZ chairman Selwyn Cushing and Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu, who jointly read the memorial plaque of the sculpture at the unveiling. Grant spent four months building the sculpture, and cites as inspiration a historical event where Hoturoa is said to have made a marker when they first arrived in Aotearoa (source: Waikato Times).

See also:

• Gorgeous with Attitude: Lyonel Grant Sculpture, Huntly

• Melissa Moxon, ‘Sculpture marks land win’, NZ Herald, 18 May 1998

• Te Anga Nathan, ‘Sculpture will be lasting’, Waikato Times, 16 May 1998