Giant conch shell officially dedicated

By Sapeer Mayron 29 March 2021, 11:00AM

New Zealand officially dedicated its first national war memorial in honour of the Pacific contribution during wars and conflicts in a ceremony in Wellington this weekend.

On Saturday, a nearly five metre tall bronze conch shell adorned with poppy flowers was unveiled and blessed, with performances and speeches to mark the occasion, including a rousing performance by a Tongan brass band.

Also present for the ceremony was Cook Island Prime Minister Mark Brown, in New Zealand this week. 

The conch, designed by Samoan-Cook Islander-Tahitian artist Michel Tuffery is the latest addition to the national war memorial park called Pukeahu, that sits at the base of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and on top of the Arras Tunnel.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the memorial, Te Reo Hotunui o te Moana nui a Kiwa (the deep sigh of the Pacific) honours the relationship between New Zealand and other Pacific nations.

“Pacific Islanders and New Zealanders fought side by side during many conflicts, including the First and Second World Wars, although our history goes much deeper than that,” she said.

“As a Pacific nation itself, Aotearoa is connected to all our Pacific neighbours by history, culture, politics, people, language and shared interests. This Memorial is an important addition to the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park.”


Mr. Tuffery explains that the conch shell is in remembrance of a shell left behind in a tunnel built by Cook Island soldiers during World War 1. The tunnel was in the French border town of Arras, and the soldiers were stationed there between 1916 and 19188.

He said he wanted the memorial sculpture to be as large as possible, to reflect the immense vastness of the Pacific and its contribution in times of need.

“I just wanted to make a huge statement that it’s our turn to tell stories, it’s our families that need to tell their stories,” he told the Samoa Observer earlier this month.

“Here in Wellington have this tunnel that goes under Pukeahu, the memorial site, called the Arras and no one knows what that means.

“Then this competition came up and I thought the synergy was perfect, it just made sense to create the conch shell with the poppies. It took three or four years to do all the research.

“A lot of people didn’t realise Pacific islanders served with the Maori Battalion, nobody knows about the Fijian contingent serving in the First World War so those are the stories I am looking forward to coming out of this,” he said.

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Samoans abroad
By Sapeer Mayron 29 March 2021, 11:00AM
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