Tūhoe earth pigments
A project funded by Tūhoe te Uru Taumatua
nā Sarah Hudson
Rūātoki shot on 35mm film by Sarah Hudson
In 2020, I was the first recipient of the Mataaho Contributions, research funding from Tūhoe te Uru Taumatua. This grant was created to generate research that will contribute to challenges that Tūhoe face as an iwi.
In May 2021, Kauae Raro Research Collective completed a six-month survey of Tūhoe land to document the diversity of Tūhoe earth pigments. We spent time in Rūātoki, Waimana, Ruatāhuna and Waikaremoana.
We hope this research can be of service to Tūhoe students, artists, designers and creatives. Six months of mahi barely scratched the surface of the colours of Te Urewera, but we look forward to seeing the flow-on effects of this project in the future.
During our time on the project, we were able to observe and sample some of the diverse soil of Te Urewera. We used these samples to make art materials.
This whenua made a misty range of watercolour palettes and rich oil paint experiments.
Examples of raw and processed soils, silts, and clays were collated in archival displays and given to Tūhoe Te Uru Taumatua to house.
Each rohe had their own distinct personality - Rūātoki was golden, Te Waimana diverse, Ruatāhuna misty and Waikaremoana green like the ngahere.
Raw samples of Tūhoe earth pigments gathered over six months by Kauae Raro Research Collective
Sarah Hudson at Mimiha on 35mm film, shot by Lanae Cable
Ko Hamua tōku hapū, and my first few years of primary school was spent at Waimana but in my reality - I grew up on the Ngāti Awa side of the tracks in Whakatāne. I wasn’t raised at the marae - even I took blimmin’ French, not te reo Māori, at high school. It wasn’t until I returned to my ukaipō after living away for ten years that I was able to reengage with my Māoritanga from home.
This project was an opportunity to reconnect with my whenua tīpuna in a way that felt right for me. Looking at the land through an artist lens, but also a Māori lens - the land as a place where my tīpuna occupied, the land as an ancestor, the land as a resource that needs protection for future generations.
I’m still learning and building what my Tūhoetana means to me, but allocating six months to deep dive in- was a great start.
Grounded in Place
I was invited to speak on a panel of first nation artists about this project by Queensland University of Technology in October 2021.
All of the participants had something great to share, you can watch my presentation ‘Reunion’ at 50:57
