First published on 
By Felicity Dear, Otago Daily Times
Kuini Parker, 6, Tama Parker (centre), 13, and Robin Luff, 13, read a tohu whenua (cultural marker) near the harbour teeth which teaches them about when different iwi arrived in the area. Photo: Otago Daily Times / Gerard O'Brien
A Portobello teen says it is "pretty cool" to see local iwi past brought to life on his doorstep.
Ten tohu whenua (cultural markers) have been installed along Te Aka Ōtākou, the walking and cycling path that follows Otago Harbour's edge from Portobello to Port Chalmers.
The markers tell stories about important landmarks and provide insight into the "rich and layered" Kāi Tahu history and world view - similar to the tohu whenua in George St.
They highlight significant landmarks, original Kāi Tahu place names, practices, values and stories.
Tama Parker, of Portobello, thought they were "pretty cool".
"I like the pictures. It shows you what it was like before [colonisation]," he said.
His father Daniel Parker said the markers were teaching the children things they did not learn in school.
"It's good to have a read of them and you can kind of visualise what it was like in the past," he said.
He hoped people would get out and "connect with some of the old stories".
Tama had seen a few of the tohu whenua, including one near his house, but his favourite was the pair at Wellers Rock.
His friend Robin Luff was from Copenhagen and appreciated the tohu whenua.
"I think it's good to have these around for people to look at, and I didn't know much about this until I read them," he said.
Photo: Otago Daily Times
The markers were manufactured by Zeal Steel in Dunedin, and mana whenua-owned organisation Aukaha worked with Kāi Tahu artist Morgan Darlinson to design the frames, which acknowledge themes of travel, waka and water.
Information on the tohu whenua included facts about waka traditions, inland trails and stories of the natural world.
The Dunedin City Council partnered with mana whenua to choose each site and develop the installations.
Te Rūnanga o Ōtākou upoko Edward Ellison said the markers provided an accessible way for visitors to connect with history and stories embedded in the landmarks.
"While we can read about these histories in books or online, encountering them in the very places where they unfolded offers a far more intimate and meaningful experience," Ellison said.
Mayor Jules Radich said developing the tohu whenua with Kāi Tahu was part of a longer-term effort to place such markers around Dunedin.
"Until now, Te Aka Ōtākou has had few interpretation panels and very little from a Kāi Tahu perspective, so the tohu whenua really fill a void," Radich said.
"We can all better understand local values and principles and gain a deeper sense of place through cultural markers like these."
- This story was first published on the Otago Daily Times.
