Taonga for Jono

To celebrate Jono’s big 100k swim, the Bay2Bay swim group took up a collection to give him a Māori carved greenstone pendant or taonga. Taonga means a lot of things, but the most common translation seems to be “treasure”.

You see these pendants fairly commonly in NZ… they are traditionally a symbol of respect and esteem, and are to be gifted to the wearer rather than bought by them. Greenstone (pounamu) was important and valuable in pre-colonial Māori life both for making sharp tools and weapons and for jewelry.

Jono’s taonga is carved in the form of a hammerhead shark. That creature symbolizes any number of big-predator virtues: strength, speed, leadership, etc. I’d say Jono has all those things… without being the least bit predatory!

Because of its cultural significance, there are strict rules and customs attached to any greenstone artifacts. You’re supposed to deal directly with the Māori landowners, only use properly recognized carvers, and make sure that the proper blessings are offered along the way so that the stone’s connection to the earth is honored. The picture below shows the blessing ceremony that was held a few weeks before the presentation.

Scott, who is doing the presentation and took a big role in organizing the whole thing, has Māori heritage and is active in Māori life. He had the connections to make sure this taonga has all the right vibes.

On the one hand, it’s a lot of silly hocus-pocus. But on the other, I’m super-glad we went to the extra trouble (and expense). Jono didn’t put himself through the madness of swimming for 33 hours just to show off his big lats… he wanted to use his loudest voice to remind us that we must regain a closer connection to the non-human parts of the planet.

Amen.