Kōpaki

Kōpaki is the custom of commissioning a taonga (often a greenstone mere) to commemorate, to memorialise and to communicate a particular issue of deep significance to a people.

When one community has an issue of great significance with another people - an issue that the first community wishes to 'keep alive’ -  a kōpaki (which means ‘to envelope, contain’) is obtained for this task. The kōpaki is taken to the marae of the second community and with great ceremony it is placed before them. It is spoken to by the first people and at length - so that the issue is clearly understood.

If the recipient community agrees to address the issue placed before it, if they agree that they will do something about it, they will send someone to uplift the kōpaki from the marae ātea. In doing so, they are expressing their commitment to address the issue.

The issue itself might be resolved on the day - in which case the kōpaki is returned on the day and the matter comes to an end. If the issue takes a longer amount of time to address, then a follow up hui will be arranged at the marae of the first community where the kōpaki is returned and the matter is resolved.

On many occasions, the kōpaki is used to encapsulate and commemorate an agreement between peoples. It is an ongoing reminder of the agreement. There is also an understanding that the kōpaki will also journey back and forth between the peoples keeping the agreement ‘alive’ among those peoples. For example, in the past when a peace agreement had been reached between two peoples, a kōpaki was often used to commemorate that agreement. There was also an understanding that the kōpaki would journey back and forth between the once conflicting peoples, reminding them of the peace they had agreed to.

Every Māori community in the country at one time or another had taonga of this kind. In more recent times, the tangihanga was the key event where customs like this were and are kept alive.

Finally, the use of greenstone is significant. Pounamu or greenstone symbolises longevity, resilience and endurance. Hence, when pounamu is used for an agreement or understanding of some kind, it is signalling that this will be an agreement that will stand the test of time.

Secondly, pounamu also symbolises land, the mana of the land. Hence, historically when land changed hands from one people to another, then an exchange of taonga of this kind took place. (This was also the reason why Government agents in the 19th and 20th centuries - people like Sir George Grey and Sir Donald McLean - became recipients of many taonga of this kind.)

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