Te
Puna i Keteriki in Moerewa – Tuna Town
In the small town of Moerewa, on State highway 1 is a haven of Maori
owned and run businesses. Te Puna I Keteriki is a collective of shops
placed around a central courtyard, there’s a place to stop and
get your hair cut, the Whare Toi Tangata Gallery, you can buy quality,
contemporary Maori Arts and clothing and you can relax at the Tuna Café
and enjoy the wonderful food in a uniquely Maori setting (see map).
It is a collective that embodies Maori today, offering an interdependent
business model of sharing and support. Te Puna i Keteriki is a uniquely
Maori venture. It is a twenty first century Maori business model, a
model that works.
The name Te Puna I Keteriki comes from the whakatauki (saying):
Taumarere herehere riri
Te Rere I Tiria
Te Puna I Keteriki
This whakatauaki talks about “the knitting of people
when peace is made”.
The waterfall Tiria.
The spring/pool Keteriki.
A story that supports this korero is about hapu (a group of
families) who lived in the Taumarere area who were constantly arguing
or fighting with each other.
On seeing how elvers/baby eels work together (their bodies produce para/slim
to help them wriggle and wreathe their way over rocks) to climb the
waterfall at Tiria, the hapu decided that by working together and settling
their differences they would also be able to overcome any obstacles
or problems.
The hapu would go to Tiria when the elvers were returning home to their
rivers, in woven kete they would scoop up the elvers and carry them
to the top of the waterfall to ease their journey.
Te Puna I Keteriki seemed like an appropriate name for our collective,
the whakatauaki also supports the way in which we choose to work. |
