Ngä
toi tohu ~
Symbols, logos and artwork used on this site & its predecessor
Here are explanations
and background information about some of the graphic images used on
this website and some from its predecessor. We hope that they help to brighten what might be otherwise
rather dull-looking pages.
The the flag of the United
Tribes of New Zealand. This flag was adopted by a meeting of chiefs at Waitangi on March 20, 1834, after which it was sent to England, where King William IV approved its recognition as the flag of a sovereign nation. The nation itself was formally established on October 28, 1835, when the chiefs gathered at Waitangi once more to sign the Declaration of Independence in the name of the Kotahitanga (Federal Union), and confirmed the kara as the national flag. This was the real beginning of New Zealand as a political entity -- there would have been no Treaty of Waitangi as negotiated in 1840 if there had not been a confederation of chiefs with whom to talk about it. The red in the flag represents chiefly authority, and the eight-pointed stars reflect the special symbolic importance of that number in Polynesian thought.
"
Bird in a storm" (Manu äwhä) reproduces a design by James Benton created for the cover of the two-volume anthology of refereed papers
from the ICEL 2000 Conference, Te Rito o te Mätauranga. This was a preliminary sketch for a painting exhibited at the Depot Gallery in
Devonport in February 2003 (which can be seen along with other works on the artist's web site
. James has provided technical advice for this web site and helped with the design of several JHMRC publications, including the Well-being and Dispartity in Tämaki-makaurau series and the Whanaungatanga handbook.
Flag
of the Kingdom of Ra'iatea, from 1847-1880 (a different flag was used after it was declared a protectorate of France in 1880). In 1888 Raiatea, like Tahiti itself and later the other parts of what is now French Polynesia lost its independence completely and were incorporated in French Oceania (now known as French Polynesia). Raíatea is extremely important also in the history of Aotearoa, as it was settled from the Marquesas (the first part of Eastern Polynesia to be settled) and became the religious centre and major dispersal point for settlement of Hawaii, Tahiti (just 100 miles north) and Aotearoa. Maori language and culture has sprouted from "he purapua i ruia mai i Rangiatea" -- a seed sown from Rangiatea.
"Homage to Selwyn Muru " A work by Ngati Hine artist Richard Cooper, created as a tribute to his teacher, the renowned Ngati Kurï sculptor, painter, actor, film maker and broadcaster. This work was deposited at the James Henare Maori Research Centre after the Conference of the International Consortium for Experiential Learning in December 2000, after Richard Cooper presented it to the conference organizers. There is more information about the painting and the artist elsewhere on this website.
Urban life -- a representation, using the curling / uncurling spiral to symbolize connectness, of the factors impacting on the adjustment to urban life. This was the result of an initial planning meeting of the JHMRC urban disparities research team, and was included in Drowning in the Mainstream, one of the reports produced in the early stages of the research programme.
Dynamic Values --This diagram, based on the taka (spiral pattern used in carving) underlines the importance of te wä (the space / time continuum) as the force which enables development to occur -- starting with the pure potentiality of Te Kore, through the manifold phases of Te Pö, into the world of light. Unless "te wä", the creative energy of time and space, is given freedom to work unconstrained, development will be distorted and drfective. The states values and processes on the parallel spiral lead, through Te Wä to manaaki -- the mutual recognition and respect for personal mana, without which whanaungatanga and harmonious social relationships will be impossible.
Study zones for the Urban Disparities study. This thumbnail map indicates the areas included in the fieldwork for the James Henare Maori Research Centre's study of Well-being and Disparity in Tämaki-Makaurau (information about the study along with PDF files of the five-volume report, published by Te Puni Kökiri in 2003, is accessible through this web site.
A miniature of the very attractive label, featuring James Benton's painting "The Birth of Auckland", prepared by TPK for the CD-ROM with PDF files of all the volumes in the Well-being & Disparity in Tamaki-Makaurau study.
Owhata. Idyllic from a distance, this photograph by Dr Mere Roberts shows what is in fact a seriously eroded beachfront on the foreshore of the Owhata settlement in Herekino Harbour.
Dr Roberts visited the area at the request of the James Henare Maori Research Centre to assess what help the University of Auckland's environmental scientists might have been able to give the people of the area to research possibilities for the restoration and sustainable management of the local environment.
"Mätähauariki.- the Emerging Dawn". This photograph of dawn breaking to the east of Rangitoto Islands evokes Hohua Tutengaehe's description of mätähauariki: “Just after sunrise, when the darkness is separated by the dawning of the day, a gentle breeze strokes the distant horizon to landfall to reveal layers of cloud above the horizon and dawn gives way to the light of day”. This picture (taken by Nena Benton) was used to illustrate Richard Benton's keynote address to the “Preservation of Ancient Cultures and the Globalization Scenario” conference at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, 22-24 November 2002
Flag
of the Kingdom of Ra'iatea, from 1847-1880 (a different flag was used after it was declared a protectorate of France in 1880). In 1888 Raiatea, like Tahiti itself and later the other parts of what is now French Polynesia lost its independence completely and were incorporated in French Oceania (now known as French Polynesia). Raíatea is extremely important also in the history of Aotearoa, as it was settled from the Marquesas (the first part of Eastern Polynesia to be settled) and became the religious centre and major dispersal point for settlement of Hawaii, Tahiti (just 100 miles north) and Aotearoa. Maori language and culture has sprouted from "he purapua i ruia mai i Rangiatea" -- a seed sown from Rangiatea.
"Homage to Selwyn Muru " A work by Ngati Hine artist Richard Cooper, created as a tribute to his teacher, the renowned Ngati Kurï sculptor, painter, actor, film maker and broadcaster. This work was deposited at the James Henare Maori Research Centre after the Conference of the International Consortium for Experiential Learning in December 2000, after Richard Cooper presented it to the conference organizers. There is more information about the painting and the artist elsewhere on this website.
Urban life -- a representation, using the curling / uncurling spiral to symbolize connectness, of the factors impacting on the adjustment to urban life. This was the result of an initial planning meeting of the JHMRC urban disparities research team, and was included in Drowning in the Mainstream, one of the reports produced in the early stages of the research programme. 
Dynamic Values --This diagram, based on the taka (spiral pattern used in carving) underlines the importance of te wä (the space / time continuum) as the force which enables development to occur -- starting with the pure potentiality of Te Kore, through the manifold phases of Te Pö, into the world of light. Unless "te wä", the creative energy of time and space, is given freedom to work unconstrained, development will be distorted and drfective. The states values and processes on the parallel spiral lead, through Te Wä to manaaki -- the mutual recognition and respect for personal mana, without which whanaungatanga and harmonious social relationships will be impossible. 
Study zones for the Urban Disparities study. This thumbnail map indicates the areas included in the fieldwork for the James Henare Maori Research Centre's study of Well-being and Disparity in Tämaki-Makaurau (information about the study along with PDF files of the five-volume report, published by Te Puni Kökiri in 2003, is accessible through this web site.
A miniature of the very attractive label, featuring James Benton's painting "The Birth of Auckland", prepared by TPK for the CD-ROM with PDF files of all the volumes in the Well-being & Disparity in Tamaki-Makaurau study. 
Owhata. Idyllic from a distance, this photograph by Dr Mere Roberts shows what is in fact a seriously eroded beachfront on the foreshore of the Owhata settlement in Herekino Harbour.
Dr Roberts visited the area at the request of the James Henare Maori Research Centre to assess what help the University of Auckland's environmental scientists might have been able to give the people of the area to research possibilities for the restoration and sustainable management of the local environment. 
"Mätähauariki.- the Emerging Dawn". This photograph of dawn breaking to the east of Rangitoto Islands evokes Hohua Tutengaehe's description of mätähauariki: “Just after sunrise, when the darkness is separated by the dawning of the day, a gentle breeze strokes the distant horizon to landfall to reveal layers of cloud above the horizon and dawn gives way to the light of day”. This picture (taken by Nena Benton) was used to illustrate Richard Benton's keynote address to the “Preservation of Ancient Cultures and the Globalization Scenario” conference at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, 22-24 November 2002