Te Toki Kōhatu Tawhito

This fossil stone Toki carries deep time within it. Carved from a hard, fine-grained mudstone filled with ancient shell fossils, it holds the quiet story of the ocean pressed into stone.

The slice was gifted to me by someone from the North Island, gathered from the Mohaka area in Tairāwhiti. From the moment I saw the cross-sections of the shells scattered through the surface, I knew it needed to become a taonga. The shells appear as bright white forms against the grey stone, each one a reminder that this land was once seabed. The stone itself has a solid, grounded presence — grey and steady, almost like greywacke in tone — with fossil fragments revealed as I shaped and polished it.

The Toki form felt right for this piece. Traditionally, the Toki symbolises strength, courage, authority, and leadership. It represents the adze, a tool of builders and makers — those who shape the world around them. In this taonga, that meaning runs deeper. The stone itself was shaped by time, pressure, and the natural forces of the earth. The fossil shells embedded within it are evidence of resilience and transformation. What was once living beneath the sea now endures as stone, carried forward into a new form.

I carved this Toki for a good friend of mine — someone deeply connected to fossils, who spends countless hours finding, preparing, and supporting the work of others across Aotearoa. His passion for uncovering the past and preserving it for the future is something I respect. It felt fitting to take a fossil-rich stone and shape it into a Toki for him — a symbol of strength and guardianship, but also of deep time and continuity.

The tan lashing contrasts gently against the grey stone, grounding the piece and allowing the white fossil shells to stand out clearly. The lashing holds the Toki firmly, much like the layers of sediment once held these shells in place for thousands of years.

Carving this piece was different. Working through fossil inclusions requires care and attention. Each shell cross-section revealed itself slowly as I refined the surface. There is something humbling about shaping a stone that already carries so much history.

Now that I have given it, it feels right. This Toki is not just a symbol of strength — it is a reminder that we are part of something far older and far greater than ourselves. The past is not gone. It is carried forward, sometimes in stone, sometimes in people.