Piritahi

Piritahi translates as “the coming together as one.”

This artwork draws inspiration from a significant moment of peaceful union between two formerly warring iwi: Ngapuhi and Ngati Paoa. In 1833, the marriage of Ngapuhi chief Eruera Patuone and Takarangi (Riria) of the Marutuahu and Ngati Paoa lines marked a pivotal gesture of reconciliation, solidifying peace between the two tribes.

The name Piritahi also lives on through the Piritahi Marae, located in Te Huruhi Bay near the village of Oneroa on Waiheke Island. Ancestrally connected to Ngati Paoa, the marae stands as a living legacy of that union — a space where whakapapa, community, and history continue to converge.