2. (noun) repository of knowledge, authority.
Haere atu, te kaumātua mōrehu i roto o Heretaunga, i te mea ko koe anake te mōrehu kaumātua, te pou herenga o ngā kupu o roto o te ao tawhito (TTT 1/8/1928:825). / Farewell, the surviving elder from within Hawke's Bay because you alone were the last remaining elder, the repository of knowledge of the ancient world.
3. (noun) basis, reference point.
He pou herenga atu tēnei nā Tūhoe i ōna kōrero o tōna tāhuhu kōrero me ōna tūtohu rohe whenua. / This is used as a reference point by Tūhoe in determining the occurrence of events in Tūhoe history and the location of tribal boundaries.
pou herenga waka
1. (noun) mooring, canoe mooring post.
Nā rāua i ārai atu a Ngāti Maniapoto i roto i ngā pakanga maha. Ka rite rāua ki te pou herenga waka ki ō rāua iwi (M 2005:244). / The two of them resisted Ngāti Maniapoto in many battles. Thus they were likened to a canoe mooring post for their tribes.
Synonyms: tauranga, tumu herenga waka, herenga waka
2. (noun) chief, leader - a figurative term for a chief.
Tērā kē te kupu mō te rangatira, te pou herenga waka, e kīia nei e ā tātou kupu poroporoaki ki te rangatira e mate ana, "Haere, haere, e te pou herenga waka." Ki te whati hoki te pou i herea ai te waka, kua tere te waka, waihoki ki te mate te rangatira, kua marara te iwi (TP 3/1910:4). / There is the saying for a chief, the canoe mooring post, which we say in our farewell speeches to a dying chief, "Farewell, Te Pou Herenga Waka." If the stake to which the canoe is tied breaks, the canoe will drift off; similarly if the chief dies the tribe will be disunited.
