Acknowledgements

As with any great endeavour in life we did not get Taonga By Timoti to this place entirely on our own steam.  We just wanted to take a minute to acknowledge all the amazing people who have jumped onboard our waka for this journey to teach us, encourage us, and support us along the way.

First and foremost, a big shout out to our friends and whanau, I think you all know who you are.  We appreciate all your encouragement, all your honesty, all your little nudges forward and all the taonga you have purchased from us which have kept our heads above water.  Without you all paddling with us we would not have been able to leave the familiar and safe shore to head out on a new adventure.

Special acknowledgement to Morganne’s Mum and Dad who’s generosity and endless love have allowed us to pursue this journey and continue on through all weather.  To the boys at Maui Studios, we would still be paddling in circles if it weren’t for you guys believing we were doing something awesome and helping us to apply for funding.   And cousin Vicki, who gave up so much of her precious time to listen to me rant about photo issues and teach me what I needed to know to get the photos you see today.  Thanks Vicki, I owe you one.

To the many new friends we have made along the ride, thank you for all your advice, information and unconditional sharing of your knowledge and time.  Taking the learning out of the books and into the awa has allowed us to move ahead faster then we ever expected. Special thanks to Leon Bonny, Logan Coots, Clem Mellish, Russell Beck, Simon Cox and Gavin Thomson.

Of course we can not forget Te Putahitanga O Te Waipounamu who believed in our dreams enough to provide us with the funding and support to propel us forward.  To everyone in the organisation who has guided us along, we appreciate every one of you.

A massive thank you to you all for helping us paddle into the unknown, with you all on board we have found our way in to  new, exciting, challenging and fulfilling waters.

Bibiliography of Books and Websites instrumental in our website development:

Beck, Russell and Mason, Maika. "The Jade of New Zealand, Pounamu". Auckland, New Zealand. Penguin Group. 2010. Print.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Pounamu
Auckland University Geology - Rocks & Minerals
The Online Māori Dictonary
www.nzmuseums.co.nz
www.ngatikuia.iwi.nz
nzetc.victoria.ac.nz
www.peterthornton.com/files/nzgemstones.pdf
teara.govt.nz
www.theprow.org.nz/
rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/index.html