Te Taurawhiri Totara

This fledgling totara marks the burial place of the Te Taurawhiri pou (pole), which once graced the courtyard of the Davis Library.

Carver Vincent Leonard and trainees from the Te Awamutu work skills scheme carved the pou inside the Library and it received its name from the rohe (rope) that links the three significant figures of the pou.

These figures, which represent the children of Ruaka (Captain of the Aotea canoe) and his wife Tamakehu, are Hinengakau, Tamaupoko, and Tupoho. Their parents gave each child supreme control over the river.

The people of Atihau-nui-a-Paparangi, and Wanganui Mayor, Doug Turney, unveiled this magnificently carved pou on 12 August 1984.

When the pole showed signs of deterioration it was removed from the courtyard. It was blessed and given back to the earth in 1999, buried to enable the children to continue watching over their people.