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Event Date
Author: rachel hand

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Event Date
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Display)
Exhibited in the Rose garden to the South West of the Museum Block at HMS Excellent (a Royal Navy "stone frigate" or shore establishment) on Whale Island, a man-made island in Portsmouth from 1907- 2007
Event Date 1922
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (Production / use)
Carved by Tene Waitere, born in Mangamuku near Kaitaia in 1854 and died in Rotorua in 1931. Gifted to the Prince Edward in 1920
Event Date 1922
Author: rachel hand

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Description (Physical description)
An inscribed brass plaque previously attached to the pole noted 'The POUIHI (Totem Pole) was erected in Roturua, New Zealand to celebrate the visit of Edward Prince of Wales in H.M.S. RENOWN on 29 April 1922./
The prince on his arrival at 9-30 a.m. to the 'hui' was greeted by 5,000 Maoris with thier [sic] tribal flags fluttering from the POIHI (although its normal use was to mark tribal boundaries)./
It is believed to have been carved by the Arawa triba carvers, Rotohiko Haipapa and/or Wihau Te Raihi, specially for the occasion and to have been hewn from the local forest. There is reputed to be no other in existence today./

Presented to H.M.S. EXCELLENT 17 July 1922 on the Prince of Wales return from the tour.'

Event Date 1922
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
Illustrated in the on-line Navy News magazine, Nove,ber 2007, Issue 640, p. 27 A-C and noted as 'One of the RN Trophy Store’s more unusual items is to move from its Whale Island home./ Trophy No 21782 is a Maori pouihi – similar to a totem pole. In its native New Zealand it would have marked a tribal boundary, though it was also used to fly tribal banners./ The pouihi was erected in Rotorua to celebrate the visit of the Prince of Wales in HMS Renown in April 1922./ It is believed to have been carved by Rotohiko Haupapa and/or Wihau Te Raihi for the occasion, and there is reputed to be no other such pouihi in existence today. It was presented to HMS Excellent in July 1922./ Exposure to the elements over 80 years has led to
some deterioration, and it is to be moved to Cambridge
University for conservation work – though it remains on
the RN Trophy Store’s books.
Available on https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/navynews/archivepdfs/2000s/2007/navy-news-november-2007-issue-640.pdf
Event Date 11/2007
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
The restoration of the pole was described by Vaimoana Tapaleao in the New Zealand Herald,27 November 2008:
Historic flagpole recovers its mana/ Adviser for Maori buildings and arts for the Historic Places Trust Jim Schuster says the flagpole has an interesting history. "The Prince left it on the ship. I don't think he could carry it back to Buckingham Palace," Mr Schuster said. "The Navy guys took it and put it up in their gardens at Portsmouth [naval base] among rosebeds. It's been there ever since." Mr Schuster, whose great-great-grandfather Tene Waitere - with Te Ngaru Ranapia - carved the flagpole, visited the naval base in 2006 and saw first-hand the damage that being outdoors had done to the flagpole. "It's been outside for around 80 years - it's been out in the weather and the paua shells had all rusted out. Woodpeckers had got to it. It's been through a lot of storms - another storm would just blow it down." Mr Schuster said those at the naval base had named the flagpole "pouihi" - meaning a post with mana - but the mispronunciation of the word made for a funny scene, he said. "When I got there, I kept being told of the 'puhi' out in the garden. In Maori, puhi means virgin. So there was a bit of confusion at first - before I corrected them." The flagpole has since been restored, with Mr Schuster using some of his great-great-grandfather's carving chisels to fix it with the help of students from the University College of London. It will now stand at the Museum of Anthropology at Cambridge University and is set to be unveiled on December 4. Mr Schuster said it was a privilege to see the works of his ancestors being admired by non-Maori. "Just to see it, knowing it was made by his hands, it brings great pride. There's lots of our things over there [and] you always feel a lot of aroha for them - being away from home. But there's also a sense of pride knowing that your great-great-grandfather's work is being appreciated on the other side of the world."
Available at https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/historic-flagpole-recovers-its-mana/4UOKET3HXOWV4RUX4AEPNESENE/ (Accessed 22/07/2022)


Event Date 27/11/2008
Author: rachel hand

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Context (Display)
On permanent display in the Maudslay Gallery, from December 2008, and welcomed with a powhiri (welcoming ceremony) and a ceremony of dedication on 4 December 2008
Event Date 12/2008
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
Nicholas Thomas, Mark Adams, James Schuster, and Lyonel Grant (2009). Rauru: Tene Waitere, Maori Carving, Colonial History. Dunedin: University of Otago Press
Event Date 2009
Author: rachel hand

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Description (Physical description)
Pouhaki or flag pole of kauri wood, square in section, and fully carved on three sides with manaia figures. On one side the forms but not the curvilinear design had been carved.

Presumed to have been previously coated in shellac, now faded and coated in 2008 with linseed oil at the suggestion of carver Jim Schuster, Tene's great-grandson. The paua (abalone) shell eyes, were also added by Jim in 2008, as no shell remained.
Event Date 2010
Author: maa

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Context (References)
Nicholas Thomas (2011). POUHAKI: A Maori flagpole arrives in Cambridge, Journal of Museum Ethnography, No. 24, Making Things: Papers from the Annual Conference of the Museum Ethnographers Group Held at the Museum of Rural Life, University of Reading, 12-13 April 2010 (2011), pp. 187-194
Event Date 2011
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
Nicholas Thomas (2011), Von Hügel’s curiosity: Encounter and experiment in the new museum in HAU: Journal of
Ethnographic Theory 1 (1), pp. 299–314. Illustrated as part of the the Maori welcome for Edward, Prince of Wales at Arawa Park, Rotorua, 29 April 1920, in situ at HMS Excellent, and at the dedication ceremony at MAA 4 December 2008.
Event Date 2011
Author: rachel hand

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Context (References)
Nicholas Thomas 2009 Museum Ethnographer's Group Journal article.

The flag pole had been carved late in Waitere's career, in 1920. It formed part of a major Te Arawa gift to Edward, Prince of Wales, who visited New Zealand in that year, in the course of a tour of the dominions to thank them for their support during the First World War.... The flagpole, together with a rich array of other treasures, was gifted to the Prince in the context of a great Maori welcome at Arawa Park, Rotorua on 29 April 1920 - not out of some subservient loyalty, but to reaffirm the relationships between Maori to the Crown, and the importance of neglected reciprocal obligations. On his return to England the Prince presented the flagpole to the commander of HMS Excellent; it was erected in a rose garden and there it remained for 85 years. At some point the carved cross-piece was lost, and the carving mis-identified as a 'totem pole'.

...In 2006-7, the pouhaki was in remarkably good condition, given its exposure to harsh coastal weather, but clearly needed to be moved indoors. There was no suitable location on Whale Island itself, and it seemed highly desirable that some home was found, that would place the work in an appropriate context and enable it to be seen by the public. Jim and the family were fully supportive of the suggestion that their ancestor's work be transferred to Cambridge and placed on permanent display in the galleries of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, which include a rich range of other Maori and Pacific pieces, as well as other great indigenous woodcarvings dating from the same broad period such as the Haida totem pole. MAA seemed appropriate for a number of other reasons - the Museum holds other objects gifted to British royalty, the present Prince of Wales is a graduate of the Faculty, the University has a long history of Maori visitors dating back to Hongi Hika in 1820-21, etc.; though perhaps most particularly because one Tene Waitere carving - a tokotoko or walking stick - was already in the collections. ... In due course the pole was accessioned to the Ministry of Defence Art Collection and HMS Excellent commanders agreed to its removal from the facilit. on long-term loan to MAA. Jim and his wife Cathy came to the UK for two weeks in the autumn of 2007 and blessed the process of the pouhaki's excavation and move to MAA's external store. The Tene tokotoko [walking stick] was used by Jim during this ceremony

Jim and his wife Cathy began work on the flagpole, with the assistance of MAA staff, and Dean Sully (University College London), and a group of Dean's students. Jim made some use of Tene's own tools, that had been passed down to him, particularly to do some new carving to replace small areas near the top of the pole that had been damaged at some time by a woodpecker. Whilst today carving in NZ are re-invigorated with red housepaint, Jim thought that the pole's appearance should be consistent with that of other pieces in the gallery, such as the Haida totem pole, and consideration was given to attempting to replicate a matt, mud-based stain, that had used traditionally, though Maori artists had also long adopted commercial paints and varnishes. Analysis of traces of a stain on the pouhaki established that shellac had been applied, presumably in 1920. Jim suggested that that linseed oil would reinvigorate the carving, and whilst this was neither was consistent with customary nor curatorial practice, it worked well to re-invigorate the pole and re-darken the sun-lightened wood.

The Schusters returned to the UK in December 2008 for a formal ceremony of dedication, attended also by members of Ngati Ranana, the London Maori Club, Commander Witts, and other Royal Navy staff, and the New Zealand high commissioner. On this occasion, too, film footage was screened of the 1920 royal visit, including shots of the pole bearing some fourteen tribal and imperial flags. MAA curator, Amiria Salmond, and her mother, the distinguished historian and anthropologist, Professor Dame Anne Salmond, great-granddaughter and granddaughter of the film-maker, James McDonald, were also present.

While no full survey of pouhaki has been undertaken, the example now in Cambridge seems to be the only one outside New Zealand; it is one of just two or three carved by Tene; and it must be among the oldest extant.

Event Date 11/2/2011
Author: Rachel Hand

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Context (References)
Neich, Roger (1993). Carved Histories: Early Maori Figurative Painting. Auckland: Auckland University Press
Sully, Dean (ed.) (2008). Decolonizing Conservation: Caring for Maori meeting houses outside New Zealand. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press.


Event Date 11/2/2011
Author: maa

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Context (Amendments / updates)
No documentation exists in the Excellent Museum as to the presentation of the Pouhaki other than the following information written on a plaque previously displayed on the pole which reads: "On the return of HMS RENOWN on the 17 July 1920 the Pouhaki was presented to the Captain of HMS Excellent - Captain F H Mitchell DSO."

The flagpole was placed in the 'Wallaby' garden part of the zoo complex situated in the centre of 'Whale Island' where it remained for 87 years before transfer to MAA
Event Date 2014
Author: rachel hand

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Conservation (Assessment Only)
CON.2018.4177 | Assessment Only
Event Date 30/8/2018
Author: Kirstie Williams (admin)

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Description (Physical description)
Described on the Ministry of Defence' annual muster records as '21782- Maori Totem pole (inscribed plate)'.
Event Date 2020
Author: rachel hand