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Story: Te hī ika – Māori fishing

Anchor stone

Image
Anchor stone

Shaped like an hourglass, this grooved and polished stone has been set into a stone canoe at Mōkau, on the King Country coast. It is reputed to be the punga (anchor stone) of the Tainui – one of the original voyaging canoes that arrived from Polynesia. It is about 1.2 metres long.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Albert Percy Godber Collection (PA-Group-00048)

Reference: APG-1495-1/4; G

by Albert Percy Godber

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Paul Meredith, Te hī ika – Māori fishing – Traditional practices, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/6809/anchor-stone (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Meredith, published 2 March 2009.