Nephrite jade was considered more valuable than gold or silver. Nephrite jade in New Zealand is known as "pounamu" in the Māori language, and is highly valued, playing an important role in Māori culture. It is considered a "taonga", or treasure, and therefore protected under the Treaty of Waitangi. The exploitation of it is restricted to Ngai Tahu and closely monitored. The South Island of New Zealand is "Te Wai Pounamu" in Māori — "The [land of] Greenstone Water" — because that is where it occurs. Weapons and ornaments are made of it; in particular the "mere" (short club), and the
Theory of forms and the theory itself is not developed. Similarly, in the Republic, Plato relies on the concept of Forms as the basis of many of his arguments but feels no need to argue for the validity of the theory itself or to explain precisely what Forms are. Commentators have been left with the task of explaining what Forms are and how visible objects participate in them, and there has been no shortage of disagreement. Some scholars advance the view that Forms are paradigms, perfect examples on which the imperfect world is modeled. Others interpret Forms as universals, so that the Form