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Ngauranga, Kaiwharawhara & Tiakiwai

Maori Sites of Te Whanganui a Tara

wellington tara symbol

Ngauranga

Kaiwharawhara Kainga

Orangi Kaupapa cultivation

Pakuao Kainga

Raurimu Kainga

Tiakiwai Kainga


Ngauranga

Location: Mouth of the Waitohi (or Ngauranga) Stream
Type of site: Kainga & tauranga waka
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Te Atiawa
Condition : Built over

The name may be Ngati Ira's. As it signifies, this was a canoe-landing site. (1)
When they left for the Chathams in November 1835, Ngāti Mutunga rangatira gave their lands from Ngauranga to Pito-one to Matangi and his son Te Manihera te Toru (Te Ati Awa) and confirmed the Taranaki people in their possession of the lands from Waitangi Stream (at Te Aro) to Ngauranga. Thus Ngauranga is, broadly, an important traditional boundary between Wellington and the Hutt.

Te Atiawa chief Te Wharepouri's securing of lands at Wairarapa was unsatisfactory. So, in November 1835, learning his cousin Manihera te Toru had received lands at Te Whanganui a Tara from their mutual Mutunga relations, he brought some 300 people here, settling himself at Ngauranga. (2) In 1842 other rangatira included Toru, Waitara, and Matangi. (3)

Te Wharepouri and his cousin Te Puni, at Pito-one, led the Maori participation in the 'sale' of Te Whanganui a Tara to the New Zealand Company. Unlike Te Puni, though, Wharepouri retained "much of the savage about him" after Pakeha settlement, evidently threatening in early 1842 "to fall upon the people of Wellington." (4) But Wharepouri was already dying from a brain tumour, and Ngauranga housed only 48 people. (5) Ngauranga people cultivated lands along the western harbour where, at Wharepouri's special request, the Company made sections 5 & 6 Native Reserves. (6) Like Kaiwharawhara, the river mouth and gorge at Ngauranga formed a natural crossroads, making it an early selection (#9) in the New Zealand Company allotments. (7) In 1847 Ngauranga people insisted on retaining section 6 (about 115 acres) and 110 acres of land they had in cultivation around the kainga (on sections 7, 8 and 9). In the summer of 1850, there were 34 people living in 18 huts at Ngauranga. (8)

The cart road up the gorge first opened in 1858, about half of its length passing through Maori land. (9) From the late 1840's, James Futter and his family operated the White Horse Inn on sections 8 and 9. Futter's dealings with Ngati Tawhirikura moved from the Inn to informal leasing of the land for a few decades, and converted to more formal arrangements on 1 January 1885, shortly before the lands passed through the Native Land Court, 28 August 1886. Taare Waitara became clearly the single largest owner: being in half of section 6 with Mohi Puketapu and Matene Tauwhare, all of section 7, and one-third of the Māori part of sections 8 & 9 with Ruakere Moehau, Hohepine Love and Hone Taramena. (10)

Since 1886 the Ngauranga lands have undergone alienation by leases, successions, sales and takings for public purposes. Soon after 1886, James Futter entered into a number of sub-leases of sections 8 & 9. Probably the most important of these was a 13-year lease from 1891 on to the Wellington Meat and Export Company. This Company continued leasing and eventually purchasing land in the area over the next sixty years.

Around the same time, the Government took several parts of these lands for public purposes: first 3 roods 10 perches for defence purposes in 7 February 1886, and in 1889, lands for future railway and road purposes.

Between 1904 and 1906 the whole of sections 6 and 7 were sold for 5750 and 1371 pound, respectively. In 1901, 1908 and 1912 Hone Taramene, Ruakere Moehau, and Hohepine Love's interests all passed to their successors, Wiri Makoare, Te Pare Ruakere, and Ms Love's children. In 1914, these sections were partitioned, and sales followed, eg Te Pare Ruakere's interests sold to Walter Futter for 1,000 pound. Today, no part of Ngauranga (including section 6) remains in Māori ownership.

Sources
1. Adkin, Leslie, The great harbour of Tara, (1959), p 48
2. Ballara, pp 26-29
3. Archives, OLC Case 229, Robert Todd, p 73
4 Both from Halswell/Wakefield 10/2/1842 in Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc A29 p 490-91
5. Halswell census, 1/7/1842, in Waitangi Tribunal Wal 145 Doc: CO 208 extracts p 55
6. NZ Gaz & Wgtn Spectator, 4/10/43
7. Archives LS-W 65/12
8 Report of H. T. Hemp 15/6/1850 in GBPP 1851 (1420) pp 232 242 [Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc A33 pp 130 & 140]
9. Julie Bremner, "Ngauranga - The Maoris and the Road," The Onslow Historian, Vol 10 No 4, 1980, pp 3-6.
10. General Land File Vol 1 Wgtn 60 MLC Wanganui Registry CT/267 & 42/268



Kaiwharawhara Kainga

Location: Mouth of Kaiwharawhara Stream
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Ngati Tama
Condition : Built over

Kaiwharawhara took its name from the wealth of wharawhara (Astelia Banksii) that grew on the slopes above the stream bed. According to Crawford, the stream was formerly much bigger, and was heavily forested with kainga and cultivation areas along its length (1).

Kaiwharawhara was one of the first kainga established in 1824-25 by Ngati Tama and Ngati Mutunga Nihoputa migrants from Taranaki. (2) The rangatira of Kaiwharawhara named in the Land Claims hearings of 1842 were Taringa Kuri, Wakakeko, Rawi, and Wakatauranga. (3)

Being so close to the heart of the town, with a good road already reaching it by late 1841, Harbour District Section 3 which contained Kaiwharawhara kainga was the plum of the Country Sections. Hence it was the first Country Section selected - by George Hunter for a prominent shipping concern, Duncan Dunbar & Son Ltd. London. (4)

Ngati Tama remained in the kainga, though, as they had not understood the 1839 sale at Petone to include their kainga. Taringa Kuri objected that the New Zealand Company had "disposed of his land at Kaiwharawhara, ... had not reserved every alternate section for the natives and, ... his planting grounds had been overrun by the horses, pigs and cattle of the white men." (5) As a result, in mid-1842, many Māori from Kaiwharawhara moved to the Hutt to cultivate, eventually leading to the Hutt wars of 1845-46.

Duncan Dunbar's agent complained in 1843 of the "long and truly distressing delay" in taking possession of his "plum". In 1846-47 Governor Grey defused conflict in the Hutt largely by moving Ngati Tama back into Kaiwharawhara (both from the Hutt and from Tiakiwai to use Tiakiwai for military barracks). Duncan Dunbar were deprived again of their plum. By 1849 their complaints escalated into costly lawsuits for the New Zealand Company. (6)

Grey's 1846-47 settlement also gave Kaiwharawhara people lands at Harbour District section 4 (to the north of the kainga) 147 acres of Otari (now Wilton Scenic Reserve) and a former Government Domain up the Kaiwharawhara stream (relabelled section 4A, and named Ngatoto), linking Kaiwharawhara to these lands for decades after.

In 1850, 44 people lived in 13 huts at Kaiwharawhara, "frequently employed by Europeans at daily wages," and cultivating lands they leased in the Hutt. (7)

In 1868 the application of Hon Paengahuru and Wikitoa Taringa Kuri and others for title investigation of Kaiwharawhara came before the Native Land Court sitting of T.H. Smith. The first hearing was adjourned because Taringa Kuri, being quite old and somewhat senile, could not give dependable testimony. A second hearing was adjourned for lack of survey. On the fourth hearing, Hon Paengahuru and a Native Department officer, Thomas E. Young, gave evidence on the pa lands.

Paengahuru distinguished this claim from other Kaiwhara lands, and produced G. F. Swainson's survey plan, SO-W 213. The claim of Paengahuru and his four co-applicants arose from Ngati Tama's pre-Chathams migration residence at Kaiwharawhara. He stressed that those who remained retained possession, and the applicants represented all the people. At the time of the hearing he and Aperahama Tuhaua were receiving the rent from the Pakeha occupants of the pa land.

Thomas Young produced McCleverty's 1847 deed and the plan attached, and noted that there was only 1 rood 19 perches - not 2 roods 19 perches, as shown in the Swainson plan produced by the applicants. It appears that the increase of 1 rood to high water mark accrued after the 1848 and 1855 earthquakes. The Court awarded the accretion to the Crown, and only the 1 rood 19 perches to Hon Paengahuru, Aperahama Tuhana, Matlu te Ire, Matiu te Wakakeko and Komene Paipa. (8)

Other Kaiwharawhara lands (Harbour sections 4 and 4A) came before Judge Alexander MacKay on 6 March 1888. Section 4 (103a 4r 36p) was granted to twelve Ngāti Tama people. Section 4A (72a 1 r 23p), known as Ngatoto, was granted to four people. (9) On 13 October 1893 a Crown Grant of the pa issued to the Maori owners. About six months later, 2 May 1894, by an application to the Native Land Court by Atanui te Peni, the restrictions on alienation were removed. (10) At some point, a John Newton must have purchased the pa land, as a certificate of title was issued to him in November 1894. (11)

None of the Kaiwharawhara pa, section 4 or 4A (Ngatoto) is in Māori ownership today.

Sources
1. Adkin, Leslie, The great harbour of Tara, (1959), pp 25-26, Maps 1-2, IV-2 & Vl-2
2. Ballara, in The Making of Wellington, p18
3. Ev. of Wi Tako Ngatata, 19/5/1842, in Archves IA I /1843/1929, p 110
4. Norah Parr, "Kaiwarra or the Village that Was," The Onslow Historian, Vol 10 No 2, 1980, pp 4-9.
5. Report of George Clarke, jun., 14/6/1843, in Waitangi Tribunal Wai I 45 Doc A31 p 394
6. Archives LS-W 64-29: Corr to NZCo principal agent taken over by Bell - 1850. Charles Sharp, Agent of Duncan Dunbar & Sons/Wm. Wakefield, 22/8/1849: encl. J. Salmon, Agent for Duncan Dunbar Son/Wakefield, 16/6/1843.
7. Kemp Report, 15/6/1850, in GBPP 1851 (1420) pp 232 & 242 (Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc A33 pp 130 & 140)
8. 1 C Wgtn 2, 25-26, 146, 159-161 ; MLC Wanganui Registry
9. WD 947, Wellington District DOSLI; 2 Wgtn 331-37, 6/3/1 888, MLC Wanganui Registry
10. Wgtn 47 Kaiwharawhara Old Pa, Order File, MLC Wanganui Registry
11. CT 75/274



Orangi Kaupapa Cultivation

Location: Upper part of Orangi Kaupapa Road
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Te Matehou
Type of site: Cultivation
Condition : Part built upon, part reserve.

The name was perhaps originally Oranga-kaupapa, food-supply terrace. (1)

Heaphy's 1841 watercolour of Wellington (2) clearly shows this 80 acre strip of land on Tinakore Hill, labelled "Native Potato Gardens" on his sketch accompanying the painting.

In 1847, Orangikaupapa was reserved in Native Title to Maori of Pipitea, including Ropiha Moturoa, Wairarapa, Porutu, Parata, Te Wiremu Otaki, Pakau, and others. (3) By the 1860s, the land was leased to a Mr. O'Neill. In 1863 the Crown tried unsuccessfully to purchase the whole block for public purposes. (4) In 1873, the 80 acre block was divided into three roughly equal parts - Tinakore North, Tinakore South, and Orangikaupapa (the latter being subdivided into Orangikaupapa No's I-l4). (5)

For years, the owners of Tinakore North (28 acres) tried unsuccessfully to obtain a roadway to their land, evidently intent on improving its value for sale. In 1894, the Maori owners sold Tinakore South to their neighbour, the Reids, who had been grazing cattle on it for some time, and who subsequently granted access from across their land to the southwest. (6)

Tinakore South (28 ac) was taken in 1912 under the Public Works Act 1908, for a Wireless Telegraph Station. (7)

Sources
I . Adkin, p 54 & Maps IV-I
2. Charles Heaphy, "Part of Lambton Harbour, in Port Nicholson New Zealand, Comprehending about one-third of the Water Frontage of the Town of Wellington, April 1841." Smith & Elder I842.
3. Wellington District Registry, Deeds Vol 1 fol 305
4. Archives MA 17/1, Mantell/Swainson, 2/2/1863, and following
5. Crown Grants *3331-3345
6. Bell, Gully & Izard/Judge Mackay, 18/9/1894, in Aotea District MLC Closed Correspondence File, Wgtn 108.
7. MLC Order, 23/10/1912, Gilfedder, J., in Aotea MLC General Land File, Wgtn 108.

Pakuao Kainga

Location: Northern end of Tinakori Road, near the intersection with Hutt Road
Type of site: Kainga
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Ngati Tama
Condition : Built over.

Town Acres 659 and 660, selected as Native Reserves in 1840, were "at Pakuao." Prior to 1835, both Kaiwharawhara and Pakuao were the rohe of Ngati Hinetuhi and Ngati Kura (Ngati Mutunga hopu). When Te Atiawa moved into the harbour at the invitation of Ngati Mutunga Patukawenga was the Ngati Mutunga rangatira of Pipitea and environs. He invited the Te Matehou hapu to reside with him at Pipitea and followed this up with an invitation to Ngati Tama to reside and take up cultivations at Kaiwharawhara. Ropiha Moturoa, the principal rangatira of Te Matehou, said that Patukawenga lived at Pipitea and Raurimu Ngati Tama at
Kaiwharawhara Ngati Kura at Pakuao and Ngatata and Pomare lived at Kumutoto. (1)

The Owhariu-to-Harbour track came out along the stream that emptied from Wadestown at Pakuao accordingly in the early 1840s Pakuao like Raurimu and Tiakiwai housed visitors from Owhariu and Whanganui who came to cultivate lands behind Kaiwharawhara. (2) Similarly, in the early 1840's William Couper opened his Caledonian Hotel right next door to "Cliff Pa", as Pakuao was known to Pakeha at the time. (3)

In 1842, Wi Tako Ngatata and Ropiha Moturoa named Tumeke, Kawia, Rawi, Hakaraia Poroa, lpu and Ananga as land-owning rangatira of Pakuao. (4) However the February 1842 census of Port Nicholson Maori does not list any of these individuals as living at Pakuao or Kaiwharawhara or Pipitea. (5) Only Poroa and another person, Wiremu Omere, signed the 1844 deeds bringing this kainga into the wider New Zealand Company's 1839 purchase.

In 1846, Governor Grey moved Whanganui Maori living at Tiakiwai to Pakuao, as he needed Tiakiwal for barracks for the troops engaged in the Hutt. In 1847, the Government assigned Pakuao in Native Title to "the Natives of Tiakiwai" (6). Col. McCleverty, however, later recalled that Town Acre 659 "on one side of the gully was given to one tribe [and 660] on the other to the other [tribe]."

So, was Pakuao assigned to one group or to two? The Tiakiwai people apparently chose not to move to Kaiwharawhara instead of Pakuao, and leased 659 to Hugh McKenzie. (7) In 1852 another rangatira, Te Kepa Napapa arranged a lease of 659 to William Couper, apparently to expand his Caledonian Hotel. (8)

The resulting dispute helped focus early doubts over the Government's role in managing Native Reserves ('Tenths') as opposed to lands which it had assigned to Maori in Native Title. (9) Twenty years later Ngati Tama and Whanganui
Maori apparently took this title dispute to the Native Land Court (applications presented May and June 1866 and April 1867, case heard August/September 1867). Ngati Tama were adjudged owners of both sections which became known as Pakuao No 1 and 2 (Sec 660 and 659 respectively). The Native Land Court issued certificates of title, and Crown grants followed in 1872 for both sections. By June 1873 Section 659 was sold to Charles Cottle, a local blacksmith who subsequently subdivided the 1 acre 3 rood area into seven sections of which he sold six, retaining one for his own use. Section 660 (Pakuao No 1) was also subsequently sold to Leonard Stowe, the clerk of the Legislative Assembly. Today these sections are subsumed in the land bounded by Grant Rd. Cottleville Tce and Tinakore Rd.

Sources
I . Ev. of Ropiha Moturoa, 29/8/1842, in Archives OLC case 635, Thomas Barker; also Ev. of Ropiha Moturoa, 31/5/1842, in OLC case 229, Robert Tod, pp 63-64.
2. Wakefield(?) in letter to NZ Gazette and Wellington Spectator, 4 October, 1843.
3. Cliff pa: Adkin, p 60 & Maps iV-2 & V.
4. Wi Tako, 19/5/1842, in National Achives Al/1843/1929. Ev. of Ropiha Moturoa, 1/6/1842, in National Archives, OLC case 229, Robert Tod, p 74
5. Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc: CO 208 extracts, pp 57-58.
6. Wellington District Registry, Deeds Vol 1 Fol 317
7. Dommett memo ca. 9/1852, in Archives New Munster 1852/1069. (Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc A40 p438)
8. Corr. of Napapa, Couper, Kemp, Domett & Grey, ca. January 52, in Archives, New Munster 8/1852/42 (Waitangi Tribunal Wai 145 Doc A40 p 41lf)
9. See Archives New Munster 8/1852/1 069 passim



Raurimu Kainga

Location: Intersection of Hobson Street and Fitzherbert Terrace
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Ngati Tama & Te Ati Awa
Type of site: Kainga
Condition : Built over.

Ngati Tama lived here at the time of colonisation, with cultivation grounds adjacent to Tiakiwai Stream. Te Ati Awa living here had their cultivation grounds on the lower slopes of Ahu-mairangi (Tinakore Hills). (1)

Tiakiwai, Raurimu, Paekaka and Kopae-parawai are located closely to one another around the Tiakiwai and Whakahukawai Streams. At the time of the Ngati Tama traverse of the Owhariu-Pakuao track around 1824 the area was largely uninhabited. In the years prior to Ngati Mutunga residence and raupatu, this area, abutting Pipitea, remained a staging area for food foraging and longer excursions by Ngati Tama.

In 1827 when Te Pehi-Kupe returned to Waikanae after his voyage to England Ngāti Mutunga, then resident at Waikanae, moved to Te Whanganui a Tara, urged by Te Pehi-Kupe and Te Rangihiroa (both important rangatira of the Ngāti Hinetuhi hapu, a part of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama (Ohariu) as well as Ngāti Toa rangatira). Principal men were Patukawenga, Pomare, Te Pehi, Raumoa, Takaka, and Ngatata-i-te-rangi. The mutual focus of residence was the inner harbour around Pipitea and Kumutoto. The heke was not a small one, and the population rose to some 900 by 1835, the year Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama migrated to the Chathams.

The pa, kainga and cultivations extant in 1839/40 at the arrival of settlers developed out of this Taranaki settlement pattern into a diverse community under the control of Ngāti Mutunga. The principal rangatira were of Ngāti Hinetuhi based around Pipitea and Kumutoto. Kaitangata and Ngāti Tama residences abutted Pipitea around Tiakiwai and Raurimu. Until 1833-34 it appears that Ngāti Tama involvement in the area was limited - constrained to the status of visits or limited by the invitation and interest of Ngāti Hinetuhi and Kaitangata. The web of community was a dynamic one from which the residents maintained communal interest around Moana Raukawa. There is evidence that Ngāti Mutunga participated extensively in these years in the Toa-Atiawa raupatu into the South Island and movement to and from other Te Atiawa occupation was continuous.

The impact of the Haowhenua battle near Otaki in 1834 led most of Ngāti Mutunga and Ngāti Tama to migrate to the Chathams. The exodus of so many people at one time created the opportunity for the Te Atiawa hapu Te Matehou, Ngāti Tawhirikura, Ngāti Te Whiti, Ngāti Haumia and Ngāti Tupaea people to fill this void with Ngāti Mutunga's sanction.

Some Kaitangata maintained residence at Tiakiwai and Raurimu for the rest of their lives. These included Tamatau, Te Ipu at Wi Omere, Kapapu, Ramu and Pirihira Te Tia. Ramu Ngatitu of Whanganui and Kaitangata was one who continued his residence at Tiakiwai, Kapapu of Ngatitupata and Pukaitangata spent time also at Paekaka gathering food. They only ceased gathering at Paekaka at the time of the Hutt war, when George Grey took the Tiakiwai land for the Thorndon Barracks. The migration allowed Ngāti Tama to move into Tiakiwai and take over the kainga. Taringa Kuri was one of a number of Ngāti Tama rangatira who took lengthy residence at Tiakiwai. Their change to residence was encouraged by Ngāti Mutunga when about 1833-1834 Patukawariga invited Ngāti Tama to cultivate at Kaiwarawara - supplying seed potato as an inducement.

When the New Zealand Company and settlers arrived after 1839 this pattern of Maori life succumbed to the pervasive pressure of settlement. All traces of Tiakiwai, Raurimu and Paekaka disappeared. In the early 1870s Kaitangata made a late bid to resurrect their claim to the land but were dismissed as unentitled.

Sources
1. Adkin, Leslie, The great harbour of Tara, (1959), pp 75-76 & Maps IV-2 & V



Tiakiwai Kainga

Location: Just northeast of Fitzherbert Terrace and Hobson Street intersection
Known iwi/Hapu connections: Te Atiawa
Type of site: Kainga
Condition : Built over.

(1)
Ballara speculates that Tiakiwai was established in 1824 as an extension of the Ngati Tama Nihoputa migrants' settlement at Ohariu.

Tiakiwai was probably more closely associated with Ngāti Mutunga than Ngāti Tama. In 1833, three Ngāti Mutunga rangatira - Raumoa, Patukawenga and Takiaka - sold about 3/4 acre of land at Tiakiwai to a flax trader George Young. In Young's 1843 land claims hearng Pomare Kapawiti (Takiaka's younger brother) and Wi Tako Ngatata all supported this Ngāti Mutunga sale, and denied Ngāti Tama's interests in Tiakiwai. (2) Wi Tako and Ropiha Moturoa listed the rangatira of Tiakiwai as Ngapapa, Te Kapu, Rauru, Te Korangi, Ngake, and Kapaku - all Ngāti Mutunga folk. (3)

At the time of Pakeha settlement, Tiakiwal was apparently inhabited mostly by visitors from Ohariu and Wanganui. By mid 1842 Tiakiwai was nearly empty; various observers say it had been "deserted" or that "all [had] been taken from
them." (4)

Sources
1 General: Adkin pp 76 86 & Maps IV 2 & V
2 Testimony given 14/6/1843 in Archives OLC 1/1042 George Young (Repro 1640)
3 Wi Tako 19/5/42 in National Archives IA1/43/1929 about 109 Moturoa 1/6/1842 in OLC case 229, p 74
4 Visitors' kainga Wakefield (?) in The NZ Gazette and Wgtn Spectator 4 Oct, 1843 [p27] Deserted: Commissioner of Native Reserves E. Halswell to Wm. Wakefield, 4/7/1842, in App to NZCo 12th Report p 100-G Taken: Crown Prosecutor in the Land Claims Court R D Hanson to the Secretary of the Aboriginal Protection Society 24/5/42 published in The NZ Gazette and Wgtn Spectator. Oct. 1843 [p27]

Korero o te Wa I Raraunga I Rauemi I Te Whanganui a Tara I Whakapapa