Arawa War Memorial Statue

Te Arawa Soldiers' Memorial Restoration Project 2016-2019

As part of the World War One commemorations Rotorua's Te Arawa War Memorial was restored.
The memorial was erected by Te Arawa to commemorate Te Arawa men who fought and lost their lives in World War One (1914-1918). First unveiled on 28 February 1927 by HRH the Duke of York (later King George VI), the memorial includes the names of 35 Te Arawa men.
Rangitihi was removed from the memorial in 1936 after being damaged.
The project to restore this significant piece of Te Arawa military history was commissioned by the Rotorua World War One Committee in 2016 after receiving funding from the Lotteries World War One Commemorations, Environment and Heritage Fund, New Zealand Community Trust, the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust and New Zealand Māori Arts & Crafts Institute (NZMACI).
The project included several phases, the first being repair and conservation of the stonework on the memorial. Master stone conservator Marco Bürger spent several months in late 2016 carefully working on the memorial.
Experts from NZMACI restored the original wooden eight tekoteko and four ‘wheku form’ pou that originally surrounded the memorial. Then they used 3D scanning and wax moulds were made of the carvings prior to bronze replications being cast.
The final step in the project was to replicate the stone statue of Te Arawa ancestor Rangitihi, which was badly damaged and removed from the memorial in 1936. Local master carver Rakei Kingi was chosen to carve Rangitihi and used Hinuera stone, sourced from a quarry near Tirau.
Over 250 people attended the moving ceremony unveiling the restored Te Arawa Soldiers’ Memorial (Thursday 28 February 2019), 92 years to the day that it was originally erected in 1927.
Taking place in Government Gardens (Corner of Queen’s Drive and Oruawhata Drive), several aspects of the service replicated those that were in the programme on 28 February 1927, including the hymn Aue e Ihu and a bugler play The Last Post and Reveille.

Waka Huia Te Kei Merito

What happens when Ngāti Rangataua knowledge meets the musings of an American president? Te Kei Merito reveals how he rose to the top of the New Zealand army. Director: Tina Wickliffe

He aha te hononga o ngā kōrero tuku iho a Ngāti Rangataua ki ngā tohutohu a te perehitini Amerikana? Ka whakapuaki mai a Te Kei Merito (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Rangataua) i te ara motuhake i whāia e ia kia kake ki ngā tino taumata o Ngāti Tūmatauenga. Ringatohu: Tina Wickliffe