Pounamu Pounamu

Introduction to this edition

Pounamu Pounamu was published in 1972 and was my first book. The stories in it are about growing up Maori during ‘the greenstone years’ of my childhood: those years when the rural village and the marae were the centre of our universe. I called the book after the treasured jade which is symbolic of those things in life that are to be prized above all others.

I honour the stories of Pounamu Pounamu and, when I hold the jade up to the light, it is just as strong, translucent and beautiful as ever. Ten years ago, in 2002, however, I saw that the light refracted just a little differently and I was able to see more of the roimata toroa, the tears, that are in the jade. They are the dark markings that have always resided there but how you see them and what you see in them all depends on your point of view. Thus, although the stories in this edition of Pounamu Pounamu are the same as in the original edition published, they are also different. I have added what I have seen as the light has glanced off, reflected through and highlighted other roimata in the depths of the greenstone. I’ve rewritten the stories, to show that not only is pounamu a living stone but stories also live, change and are enriched by the dynamic of changing times.

I’ve also been thrilled to take the opportunity, in this Anniversary publication, to provide a historical and personal context to the book. I’ve gone back in my memory to the times when I began writing, the 1970s, and provided notes on how the stories all originated. More importantly, I’ve returned in my memory to Waituhi, all my whanau, to show how both they and Waituhi illuminated my life. They gave me a place and a people to write about; without them there would have been no Pounamu Pounamu or, even, a writing career. The notes follow the stories. I hope you enjoy them.

The stories in Pounamu Pounamu are about resilience, survival, facing and surmounting challenges and carrying on. My father liked to say to me, during the many times I was ready to give up, ‘You are a seed planted at Raiatea! Your ancestors didn’t paddle their canoes all that way across the ocean and settle in Aotearoa just to see you strand them in the second millennium! Strike out for the horizon! Paddle on! Their journey won’t be over until we reach the stars!’

This edition of Pounamu Pounamu is dedicated to that unending quest for the fulfilment of dreams that began long before any of us were born.

You are from a seed that was sown in Rangiatea and you will never be lost

Witi Ihimaera