Conception, construction and the cultural significance of Te Parapara Garden in Hamilton, Aotearoa New Zealand

Te Parapara Garden is the only complete pre-European-style Māori horticultural garden in the world. Historically inspired and empirically researched, it lies within the Hamilton Gardens on a young river terrace immediately adjacent to the Waikato River in Hamilton (Kirikiriroa), Aotearoa New Zealand. In this article, Wiremu Puke (Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Porou) – a tohunga whakairo (master carver, including using pre-steel tools) and a tohunga whakapapa (genealogical expert on his tribal affiliations) of Ngāti Wairere (the mana whenua, or first people of the traditional ancestral tribal lands of Kirikiriroa) – describes the design and development of Te Parapara Garden from its initial concept in 2003 and the construction of its many features, including the waharoa (gateway), pou (carved pillars), pātaka (storehouse), whatarangi (small storehouse), taeapa (fencing) and rua kūmara (underground storage pit), and the sourcing and use of kōkōwai (red ochre). The garden was completed in 2010. Its ongoing functioning, including the annual planting and harvesting of traditional pre-European kūmara (sweet potato) using modified, mounded soils (puke or ahu), is also covered. The unique Te Parapara Garden is of great cultural importance and a source of pride, knowledge and understanding for national and international visitors and empirical and academic researchers.

How We Remember: New Zealanders and the First World War, Charles Ferrall and Harry Ricketts (eds) (2014)

Review of: How We Remember: New Zealanders and the First World War, Charles Ferrall and Harry Ricketts (eds) (2014) Wellington: Victoria University Press, 272 pp., ISBN 978 0 86473 935 3 (pbk), NZ$40

Tikopia Collected: Raymond Firth and the Creation of Solomon Islands Cultural Heritage, Elizabeth Bonshek (2017) Collecting in the South Sea: The Voyage of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux 1791–1794, Bronwen Douglas, Fanny Wonu Veys and Billie Lythberg (eds) (2018) Resonant Histories: Pacific Artefacts and the Voyages of HMS Royalist 1890–1893, Alison Clark with Eve Haddow and Christopher Wright (2019)

Review of: Tikopia Collected: Raymond Firth and the Creation of Solomon Islands Cultural Heritage, Elizabeth Bonshek (2017) Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Publishing, 222 pp., ISBN 978 1 90777 439 3 (hbk), £60 Collecting in the South Sea: The Voyage of Bruni d’Entrecasteaux 1791–1794, Bronwen Douglas, Fanny Wonu Veys and Billie Lythberg (eds) (2018) Leiden: Sidestone Press, 381 pp., ISBN 978 9 08890 574 2 (pbk), €60 Resonant Histories: Pacific Artefacts and the Voyages of HMS Royalist 1890–1893, Alison Clark with Eve Haddow and Christopher Wright (2019) Leiden: Sidestone Press, 272 pp., ISBN 978 9 08890 629 9 (pbk), €55

Built in Niugini: Constructions in The Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Paul Sillitoe (2017) Made in Niugini: Technology in The Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Paul Sillitoe (2017)

Review of: Built in Niugini: Constructions in The Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Paul Sillitoe (2017) Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Publishing, 348 pp., ISBN 978 1 90777 445 4 (hbk), £100 Made in Niugini: Technology in The Highlands of Papua New Guinea, Paul Sillitoe (2017) Canon Pyon: Sean Kingston Publishing, 636 pp., ISBN 978 1 90777 489 8 (hbk), £120

The Tongan Double Canoes, Peter Suren (2018)

Review of: The Tongan Double Canoes, Peter Suren (2018) Berlin: Peter Lang, 178 pp., ISBN 978 3 63174 552 6 (pbk), €36.10

Odyssey of the Unknown Anzac, David Hastings (2018)

Review of: Odyssey of the Unknown Anzac, David Hastings (2018) Auckland: Auckland University Press, 208 pp., ISBN 978 1 86940 882 4 (pbk), NZ$34.99

Scenic Playground: The Story behind New Zealand’s Mountain Tourism, Peter Alsop, Dave Bamford and Lee Davidson (2018)

Review of: Scenic Playground: The Story behind New Zealand’s Mountain Tourism, Peter Alsop, Dave Bamford and Lee Davidson (2018) Wellington: Te Papa Press, 416 pp., ISBN 978 0 99414 602 1 (hbk), NZ$80

New Zealand and the Sea: Historical Perspectives, Frances Steel (ed.) (2018)

Review of: New Zealand and the Sea: Historical Perspectives, Frances Steel (ed.) (2018) Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 384 pp., ISBN 978 0 94751 870 7 (pbk), NZ$59.99

Mothers’ Darlings of The South Pacific: The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla (eds) (2016)

Review of: Mothers’ Darlings of The South Pacific: The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II, Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla (eds) (2016) Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 379 pp., ISBN 978 0 82485 152 1 (hbk), US$65

In conversation with Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa

Becoming a feature film director is a privilege available to only a handful of people, no matter where in the world they live. In Oceania, access to filmmaking is arguably more constrained because the market conditions under which commercial films are produced do not favour small, geographically dispersed and linguistically distinct communities. Opportunities to make publicly funded, critically acclaimed Pacific films in metropolitan centres like Aotearoa New Zealand are vanishingly small. Often when they are made, these ‘art house’ Pacific films primarily appeal to audiences outside of the communities in which they are set. Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa has challenged this status quo by pioneering a mode of populist commercial filmmaking for Samoan (and other Pacific Island) audiences in the islands and across the diaspora. His commitment to making entertainment that is relevant to and reflects contemporary Samoan culture has been remarkable. On the eve of Vaiaoga-Ioasa’s fourth feature film release, filmmaker/academic Sarina Pearson sat down with him to talk about how he developed the ‘Stallone model’, the films he has made, and his plans for the future.