Mural Masterpieces – Betty Montford Kindy

Team:
Betty Montford Kindy Staff with Ali Easton and Wendy Hodder.

Accessible to public:
Yes.

Mural theme:
Whakapapa of nga wai o Punahau – Kaitiakitanga.

Background to mural creation:
The local lake used to be surrounded by forest and full of life – now sadly polluted. There is hope for future restoration – the cycle of water from earth/sky, rivers and the underground path of water from mountains. There is a vision of children planting trees and enjoying the forest.

This mural is about the whakapapa of ngā wai o Punahau and also about kaitiakitanga.

The image of children planting trees and playing in the forest reflects the hope for the future – that the area will be reforested and filled with wildlife, and the waters restored to sustain life once again.

Kiwi and tuatara once lived here along with weta, lizards and frogs, and if you look carefully you can find them on the front wall, along with kereru, tui, korimako, kōtare, tauhou and riroriro.

Even now, there are shags and herons, ducks and pukeko making their home at Punahau, and it is special as a resting place for kōtuku.

Although nowadays Puhahau (Lake Horowhenua) is sadly polluted, once it was surrounded by forest, filled with birdlife and the waters of the lake and streams were filled with fish and eels.

There was a restoration project begun in 1995 by Muaūpoko, which was the biggest indigenous revegetation in the world at that time but sadly it came to a halt in 2000.

The whakapapa of the waters begins with Ranginui and Papatūanuku – the rain falls from the sky to land upon the mountains and water also springs from deep underground to feed the rivers – these are the veins and arteries of Papatūanuku.

Lake Punahau is fed by waters from a puna (spring) – which flows underground from the Tararua mountains to Lake Waiwiri, then underground again to Punahau.

The sun helps the waters return to the sky through evaporation and causes the trees to grow, helping to keep the waters clean by taking up nutrients and giving shade as well as homes for the wildlife.

The rainbow lives between the sunshine and the rain and is a symbol of hope for the future.

The rainbow bird is Te Porete – taken from a story Wendy illustrated many years ago about a mythical bird with beautiful rainbow feathers who lived in a long ago time when the forests were vibrant and full of life.