1958 & 1998 - Pania of the Reef.

For an index to all our posts on The Maori People.

This post was inspired by something in the post Mary has just completed 1958 Anniversaries. In the Hawke's Bay Centennial issue is a stamp 2d - Pania of the Reef. This statue caught my interest as I remembered seeing it in the 1998 Town Icons issue too. (Both stamps are shown below). So in looking deeper I discovered the story of Pania of the Reef; a Maori legend or myth, a romantic yet tragic love-story, and a beautiful bronze statue.  

The Stamps.

                                 

1958 Hawke's Bay Centennial.                                       1998 Town Icons - Napier, NZ.

Pania can be found on other New Zealand stamps but in the two shown

above she take centre place as the main subject of the stamp.
For more about the heitiki she is wearing see story below or visit our post Heitiki

Pania of the Reef also appeared on two First Day Covers 

of the 1974 Centenary of Napier.

New Zealand - 2004 Baypex´04.
The Statue of Pania appeared on a Souvenir Cover containing the special miniature sheet that
 NZ Post released for the 2004 Baypex'04 Stamp Exhibition. 
$1.50 - 2004 Tourism - Hawke's Bay Vineyard.
$3.00 - 2000 Pictorials - Cape Kidnappers.
Blue Label designed for the Exhibition.

The Story.

        Pania of the Reef was a beautiful sea maiden who lived in the sea on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. By daylight she swam about with creatures of her reef world but after sunset would go to a stream that ran into the bay where the city of Napier now exists. She would travel up the stream to an area where she could rest among the flax bushes beside a spring of pure sweet water, enjoying the sounds and feelings of a different world above the ocean.
         Karitoki, the very handsome son of a Māori chief, quenched his thirst every evening at the stream near where Pania rested because it had the sweetest water. He was unaware she was observing him for many weeks until one night she whispered a faint spell. It carried on the wind to Karitoki who turned around to see Pania reveal herself to him as she emerged from her hiding place.

          Karitoki had never seen someone so beautiful and instantly fell in love. Pania fell in love also, and they pledged their lives to each other and were secretly married. Pania and Karitoki went to his whare (house), but because it was dark no-one saw them enter.
          At sunrise, Pania prepared to leave but Karitoki tried to stop her. She explained that as a creature of the ocean, when the sirens of the sea called her each morning, she could not survive if she did not go to them. She promised to return every evening and their marriage continued on that basis.
          After awhile Pania gave birth to a son who was completely without hair and so was named Maremare, ‘the hairless one.’ Like his mother, he was as much a creature of the sea, as of the land.
           With the birth of this child, Pania's husband became concerned that he might lose them both to the sea people. He hoped to find a way to keep his child and wife with him always, so he consulted a kaumatua (wise elder) in the village, who believed Karitoki as he knew ocean maidens did exist. The kaumatua told Karitoki that being a sea creature, Pania would not be allowed to return to the sea if she swallowed cooked food.
           That night, as Pania slept, Karitoki took a morsel of cooked food and put it in Pania's mouth. As he did so, Ruru the morepork (owl) called a loud warning and Pania was startled from her sleep. Horrified that Karitoki had put her life in jeopardy, Pania fled from the whare and ran to the sea. Her people rose to the surface and drew her down into the depths as Karitoki swam frantically about the ocean looking for her. Sadly, he never saw her again.

          When people now look deep into the water over the reef, some say they can see Pania with arms outstretched, appealing to her former lover. It is unknown whether she is imploring him to explain his treachery, or expressing her continuing love but unable to come to him.
         The sea off Napier is now protected by Moremore, the son of Pania and Karitoki. He is the kaitiaki (guardian) of the area, a taniwha (spirit) who often disguises himself as a shark, a stingray or an octopus.

         In another versions of this story:- 
          Karitoki intentions are not so good. Since his wife only came to him at night, no one would believe that she was real. He wanted to show her off, show her beauty to the people. That is why he placed cooked food in her mouth.
          Some stories say she died, others say she was prevented from ever returning to land. Either way, the out come was the same. he never saw his beloved Pania again.
          The stories seem to agree that child Moremore was turned into a shark but sometimes as an unpredictable shark (taniwha) which lived in the waters around the reef off Hukarere, and at Rangatira, the entrance to the inner harbour at the delta of the river called Ahuriri. Sometimes he would protect people but sometimes he wouldn't.
          When fishermen of today tell the legend of Pania, they claim that at ebb-tide she may be seen lying outstretched at the bottom of the rocky shelf, with her hair still as black as ever and her arms stretched shoreward.
           According to old Maori folk, however, she was turned into a fishing rock, from which various kinds of fish might be caught. Within the hollow of her left arm-pit only rawaru may be caught, and from her right arm-pit snapper alone, while her thighs yield only the hapuka. In the days of old, these fishing grounds were sacred, but today, being frequented by pakehas (Europeans), the place has become common to all and fish are no longer plentiful.

         Recently I talked with a friend of mine who teaches Maori language and culture. She agreed with me about variations of a story added richness and depth to its content but also pointed out two other important things we need to consider.
        First there is a purpose to all Maori stories. They were never just entrainment, rather were told to explain things the Maori people observed around them, both physical and spiritual, but which could not be explained. While not considered to be scientific by todays standards, these stories did achieve their purpose in that they explained things the people had no other way of understanding. Taken in this light, who can say that they were wrong?
       Secondly she told me there are lessons, morals to be found in these stories. In this case Karitoki should have expressed his concerns to Pania. In doing so, perhaps a better outcome could have been found, one that would not have cause him to harmed Pania.

      See also my other posts on Maori Myths & Legends:-

The Napier Statue.

The statue of Pania of the Reef at night.

         A 1.5 metre statue of Pania was unveiled at Napier's Marine Parade on 10 June 1954 by then Prime Minister Sidney Holland, and has since been much photographed by tourists. (Some say it is still the most popular tourist attraction in Napier.)
         The statue was commissioned by members of the Thirty Thousand Club after the Anglican Bishop of Aotearoa, Frederick Augustus Bennett, related the legend of Pania to them. Several students from Hukarere Girls College were photographed as models for the statue, and eventually, Mei (May) Irihapiti Robin (now Mei Whaitiri), was selected. A clay likeness of the photograph of Mei and an actual traditional Piupiu skirt were made by the Italian Marble Company of Carrara in Carrara, Italy. The clay model was then used to produce the bronze statue, which is estimated to weigh between 60 and 70 kg.
         Over the years Pania the statue has had an eventful life having been shot in the head, stolen and the victim of many silly pranks. But she is a tough girl, made of a purer bronze than the gun-metal used in many statues. She still sits there today looking out upon the people who visit her every day. But there is a far-away look in her eye. Perhaps she is still thinking of her beloved Karitoki. 
         The statue has often been compared to the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen; there is a resemblance between the two figures, both statues are small, bronze, and near the ocean, and both are based on similar stories.

Mei (May) Robin standing beside the Statue of Pania.

May was the model for the statue’s head, while the hetiki decoration Pānia is wearing

 was based on a piece owned by May’s own family.

Some of the images in this post were used with permission from the illustrated catalogue of StampsNZ

You can visit their web site and On-line Catalogue at, http://stampsnz.com/