The Arahura River on the West Coast was a major source of pounamu (greenstone) for Māori. Māori tradition says that the Pounamu were originally a people from Hawaiki who escaped their enemies in a canoe, the Tairea. But when the canoe was wrecked, the Pounamu were turned into the greenstone boulders that can still be found in this river.
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Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
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D.000708
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