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Story: Pounamu – jade or greenstone

Arahura River

Arahura River

The Arahura River in Westland has traditionally been an important source of pounamu for the Ngāi Tahu tribe. It has particular value for Poutini Ngāi Tahu, who are the tangata whenua of the South Island’s West Coast.

Using this item

Private collection

by Simon Nathan

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Basil Keane, Pounamu – jade or greenstone – The origins of pounamu, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/7664/arahura-river (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Basil Keane, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Nate Pow
05 November 2016
No one people can have a sole claim to the land, as far as I know to avoid the risk of offending a maori, one can never use the aid of excavators, machinery or other means of transport to get it out of the river bed other than by carrying it by hand, other than ngai tahu tribe who have claimed some form of ownership over the Arahura river, but legally this is owned by the state (queens chain) of course. Happy hunting!
maraea arano
17 January 2016
kia ora my son wants a stone for my mum and dad head stone and unvailing i went to sleep that night i dreamt there was this glowing light coming from our uru pa poke mero noa ahipara i walked into the uru pa there infront of on our parent graves was the buge pounamu in its natural just glowing that was the 2/04/2015 can some one help me solve my drea and i have dreamt the same dream every night. ka kite maraea
colin
28 July 2014
Hi can anyone go fossicking for greenstone in the Arahura river,or anywhere in the South island.thanks col.