Inanga Ira on Hiriwa

This stunning necklace is just the perfect taonga if you are looking for something elegant and timeless. With one side a solid lush green and the other including whispy clouds it is a beautiful taonga to look at. And you can wear it either way depending on your mood.

Inanga pounamu is named after the fascinating wee native Inanga fish of Aotearoa. Inanga were a staple food source of Māori and are now part of the ‘Whitebait’ whānau.

From February to May, a few days before a full and new moon from Inanga migrate downstream to the place where freshwater meets seawater coming upstream. They congregate here, waiting for a very high, spring tide so that they can work their way up the bank and lay their eggs in the vegetation. Here the eggs sit and develop until the next Marama Hua (full moon) brings another spring tide allowing the eggs to hatch and be carried downstream. They spend the next months at sea before they migrate upstream as whitebait and grow into adult fish. And the cycle begins again.

The Inanga pounamu is named as such because it resembles the silvery grey speckled bodies of Inanga. If you look closely at the photos you can see the speckles in this pendant. Hard to capture on camera!  But when you have the taonga in your hands you’ll see them.

Hiriwa is silver.  This dot was so elegant it seemed only right to string it on a sterling silver chain. In our efforts to care for Papatūānuku and her people we decided a long time ago that we would never buy new silver chains as we do not know under what conditions the silver is mined and proceseed, nor the conditions of the labourers working the chains.  So we scour antique and second hand stores to source our sterling silver chain.  While the stamp has been lost over the years, this belcher chain has been certified as 925 Sterling silver by our antique dealer.

This taonga is really beautiful. That soft blue green is just something else, and quite unique.  The sterling silver belcher chain really sets it off beautifully.

These small dots are really lovely to hold and play with when you need a little pounamu strength in your day. The perfect taonga for wearing every day, it would look equally stunning on a fancy night out.

The Story

We just love the universal significance of dots so much that we wrote a blog about them.  Pop on over here and read all about where the dots come from and why we think they are so important for the world to enjoy.  Let’s all connect the dots and make one big beautiful picture together.

• One of a kind taonga by Timoti
• Taonga is 28mm diameter.  Chain is approximately 40cm in total length
• Kahurangi Pounamu from Te Tai Poutini