‘Hineahuone’ - A2 Giclée print on textured cotton rag, hand-painted gold detail. Limited edition of 30.

“I Remember My Making”

By Hineahuone, the First Woman

I was not always shaped like this.

Once, I was just a thought sleeping inside the soft belly of Papatūānuku—Mother Earth. A whisper in the soil. A dream waiting to be sung into shape.

But then... I began to hear them.

The Hine-Rei, the sisters of becoming.

They came to me not with tools—but with gifts of themselves.

 The First Gift: Eyes from the Stars.

“I am Hine Riko Riko,” she said.

And she placed starlight into my face.

Suddenly, I could see.

The Second Gift: Skin from the Sand.

“I am Hine Kirikiri,” she said.

She sprinkled golden grains upon me.

And I could feel.

The Third Gift: Breath from the Wind

“I am Hine Omairangi,” she said.

She leaned close and breathed into me.

My chest lifted.

And I knew what it meant to be alive.

I opened my star-eyes, touched the sand-skin, filled my wind-lungs—and I was here.

Me.

Hineahuone.

The first woman.

The daughter of earth, and the gift of the goddesses.

- Umutakarangi Timoti Pahi