Te Kaitiaki o Te Auaunga
The Guardian of Oakley Creek
A picture book following a little boy visiting his friends, the spirits hiding among Oakley Creek. He brings them their favourite sandwiches, reads them their favourite stories and they’re kind to him in return.
Year
2020
The Story of a boy and his magical friends
Te Kaitiaki o Te Auaunga came about in my first semester of my Undergrad degree. We were asked to create anything we wanted in response to the area in and around Unitec. One created crochet blankets mimicking the 1880s tiles in the bathrooms, one created a ceramic dinner set with imprints of the native plants on the grounds.
I wanted to make something that would enable kids to see a hidden world within the ecosystem of Te Auaunga Oakley Creek - to be kind to the wairua even if they couldn’t see them.
This was the first publication I ever made, and still remains one of my favourites.