Sandstone and sandy limestone were used for grinding and polishing pounamu (greenstone). The Waitaha iwi of Te Waipounamu (the South Island) believe that Ōamaru stone is the bones of their ancestor Hine-tua-hōanga. Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island) traditions also mention her. Near Rotorua, in a stream, there is a large block of sandstone that was once a whetstone, its many grooves attesting to centuries of use. Known as Hine-tua-hōanga in oral tradition, it is said to have been brought to Aotearoa by the early Te Arawa ancestor Īhenga.
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Private collection, Gavin McLean
Photograph by Gavin McLean
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