Kewa – whale tail

These recycled rubber, whale tail earrings are named and inspired after Kewa the whale and the mythology of how Te Ara a Kiwa/Foveaux Strait was formed.

Te Ara a Kiwa is the waterway between Murihiku and Rakiura.

Kai Tahu mythology says that Kiwa – an appointed guardian of the ocean became tired of having to cross the land isthmus (an isthmus is a narrow strip of land with water on both sides that connects two large pieces of land), so he asked the whale Kewa to chew through the land and create a waterway so that he could cross by waka instead.

The crumbs that fell from Kewa’s mouth are some of the many islands in Te Ara a Kiwa, and Solander Island’s name Te Niho a Kewa translates as ‘a loose tooth that fell from the mouth of Kewa’.

How is that for a fabulous story!!