Maori have been fossicking for Pounamu here snice approximately
1450 AD and would journey the length of NZ in order to do so.
The Maoril legend about the creation of pounamu follows;
The mana (spiritual force) of pounamu comes from Kahue (or
Ngahue) an atua (God). A Taniwha (mythical creature) called Poutini
is the protector of the stone and is the servant of
Kahue.
Poutini from time to time used to venture further afield
than the West Coast. One day, while resting in the warm waters off
Tuhua (Mayor Island, in northeast NZ) he saw a beautiful woman,
Waitaiki, bathing in the sea.
Poutini looked at Waitaiki with lust in his heart. He
lunged forward and snatched her and fled south towards the mainland
(South Island).
Waitaiki's husband, Tamaahua was a powerful chief and
skilled in the rituals of the spirit world. When he realised that
his wife had been taken he threw a magical dart in the air. The
dart pointed in the direction of his wife. Tamaahua and his slave
paddled after them in hot pursuit.
Finally, after reaching the shore Poutini lit a fire to
warm Waitaiki, but hearing Tamaahua approaching he took her up
again and moved on. The chase continued across Aotearoa (New
Zealand).
Each time Poutini stopped he lit a fire to warm his
captive: at Tahanga, on the Coromandel Peninsula at Whangamata in
Taupo, at Rangitoto Ki te Tonga (D'Ville Island), Onetahua,
(Farewell Spit) and Pahuatare on the West Coast. The rocks at all
these sites - all of them important sources of stone for Maori -
are all still stained by the fires of Poutini.
Fleeing further south Poutini and his captive eventually
reached Piopiotahi (Milford Sound). Weeping with cold and fright,
Waitaiki begged him to turn around. Poutini listened to her, and
carried her back up the coast, eventually taking sanctuary in the
headwaters of the Arahura River.
In close pursuit, at Piopiotahi Tamaahua found his wife's
tears preserved forever in the stone named tangiwa (bowenite). He
realised that Poutini and Waitaiki had turned back and tracked them
up the coast to the Arahua valley.
Poutini was concerned. Fearing Tamaahua's strength and
determination, he decided that if he could not have Waitaiki,
no-one would.
He transformed her into his likeness (pounamu) and laid
her in the cold waters of the river. Then he slipped downstream
past the sleeping Tamaahua. In the morning Tamaahua set out to do
battle with Poutini to reclaim Waitaiki. But when he reached the
head of the river, his enemy had gone. He found his young wife cold
and lifeless, transformed into stone in the riverbed.
Realising what had happened he went back home, grieving.
His tangi (song of grief) still sounds throughout the
mountains.
To the Nagi Tahu people Waitaiki is the mother of pounamu.
The Jade fragments that break from the mother lode and roll down
the river to the sea are her children.
And so the jade boulders that lay in the Arahura river bed are
the children of Waitaiki.
Chemically, nephrite is a tremolite-actinolite amphibole
mineral, comprising of calcium magnesium silicate with varying
amounts of iron, Ca2(Mg,Fe)nSi8O22(OH). In New Zealand its
formation is associated with the Alpine fault line. You'll need to
research this process for yourself in order to get approval to log
the cache.
To log this cache you must;
1. Describe the geological process that led to the formation of
New Zealand's nephrite jade (Pounamu). Some internet or text book
research may be required. Email this info to the cache
owner.
2. At S 42 42.441 E171 03.752 there is an information sign about
the Arahura River and its Ponamu. What kind of object is the
heirloom that is referred to on the information sign? Email
this info to the cache owner.
3. Take a photo of New Zealand nephrite jade, with your GPS in
the photo. This could be a jade boulder in the river bed, a
friend's jade pendant or jade jewlery photogrphed through a shop
window in one of the many tourist shops in Greymouth and
Hokitika. Upload this photo with your cache log.
Important note
Nephrite jade in its natural state is a privately owned
resource in New Zealand. The Ngai Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act of
1997 (NZ) returned full ownership rights of all natural state
nephrite in New Zealand to the indigenous Maori tribe, Te Runanga O
Ngai Tahu, following settlement of grievance claims relating to
injustices associated with the Treaty of Waitangi. Theft of natural
ponamu is punishable under the Crimes Act 1996 (NZ).