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History of Greenstone   From the time of the arrival of Maori in Aotearoa - New Zealand, around 800AD, pounamu has held a significant importance to Maori.   Pounamu is the Maori name for New Zealand Greenstone, being the name given by early European explorers for the Jade worn by the Maori people.   Being a strong, hard and beautiful stone, Maori found pounamu ideal for making a variety of tools for woodworking and carving, including pieces for personal adornment. Even as a raw material, pounamu was highly valued and along with the wide variety of ornaments, was used for trade between tribes within New Zealand and with European settlers.   However, its value transcends the aesthetic and practical properties. It is the spiritual significance of pounamu that for Maori is of far greater value. By handling and wearing pounamu treasures owned by ancestors, it is believed the power and strength of those ancestors is passed to future generations.   Due to this direct tangible contact with ancestors, pounamu became of great significance to tribal chiefs and it was considered an act of supreme honour when gifted or exchanged on special occasions such as weddings or peacemaking ceremonies. Pounamu heirlooms became an integral part of the ceremony at Tangi (funerals).   Traditional Maori carvings all have meanings attached to them representing the history and mythology of the Maori people. As such, pounamu became a powerful symbol of rank and mana (status) and is considered to be tapu (sacred).   To this day, pounamu has continued to maintain its spiritual significance for Maori, who have adapted the old skills to modern stone cutting equipment to produce beautiful traditional and innovative modern forms of ornaments and artwork.   There are two types of jade used worldwide for carving. Their geological names are jadeite and nephrite, with only nephrite found in New Zealand.   Pounamu is found only in the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand and in its natural state is owned by the tribe of the South Island;  Ngai Tahu.   Maori people recognised four main varieties of pounamu with only three of them strictly speaking being jade.   Bowenite, found only at the entrance to Milford Sound is a mineral that is a beautiful blue/green almost translucent form of serpentine used to make pendants. Its Maori name is Tangiwai – “tear water”, a reference to its transparent watery appearance.   The most highly valued variety of the three nephrite pounamu is Inanga named after the whitebait fish because of its pearly white or light green colour.   The most common variety is named kawakawa because of its resemblance to the dark, deep rich green leaves of the kawakawa plant and is often flecked with darker colours.   Kahurangi, meaning “the robe of the sky” has light streaks appearing like clouds in an even translucent light green stone.   There are many other names for varieties of pounamu including tribal variations, based on colour and shade.