STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 17. Part Pirongia Forest Park (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-22) The central feature of the Pirongia Forest Park and its surrounding environs is the Pirongia Maunga or Mountain, originally known as Pūawhe. Pirongia is of cultural significance to Ngāti Maniapoto as it is to other iwi in the surrounding Waipā area. The maunga is a geographical signifier of pride and identity for several Ngāti Maniapoto hapū. The full name of the maunga is Pirongia-te-aroaro-o-Kahurere. The name is part of the story of the exploration of Xxxxxxxx and the naming of several significant mountains and other features for her. According to Xxxxx Xxx, following the death of her husband Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx set off in search of her son Xxxxxxxxxx naming on the journey several significant mountains and other features. Other accounts claim Xxxxxxxx, also refered to as as Kahukeke or Xxxxxxxx, was the daughter of Xxxxxxx, the captain of the Xxxxxx xxxx, who married Xxxxxxxxx, the principal tohunga of that waka. It is said that Xxxxxxxxx named Pirongia-te-aroaro-o-Kahurere and other geographical landmarks after his wife during the course of their journey of exploration inland. Xxxxxxxx is said to have anointed herself with oils from the rangiora tree on the summit. According to one account, two altars or tūāhu were erected by other tohunga of the Tainui waka, namely Rotu and Hiaroa on Pirongia. Incantations were performed at the tūāhu or alters by Rotu and Hiaroa to ensure an abundance of bird life. These tūāhu were named Te Rape a Raka and Paewhenua. Birdlife returned to Pirongia from March to May each year. Ngāti Maniapoto tradition speaks of Pirongia as a refuge for the patupaiarehe or spiritual beings. The names of some of their chiefs are still remembered in a song of lamentation Xxxxx xx rangi nei. They include Tiki, Nukupori, Tapu-te-uru, Ripiroaiti, Whanawhana and Te Rangipōuri, the latter the composer of that waiata. Their chief abode is Hīhīkiwi, the highest peak on Pirongia. In 1886 in the Native Land Court, the much renown Ngāti Maniapoto rangatira Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx spoke of Xxxxxxxx as a significant landmark of Tūrongo, the great-grandfather of the ancestor Xxxxxxxxx. Another landmark is Pukehoua which Winitana Tūpōtahi of Ngāti Paretekawa spoke of in the Native Land Court in 1888 when giving the northern boundary of Ngāti Maniapoto. According to some, Pirongia is also said to have been a boundary demarcating the division of the district between the ancestor Xxxxxxx who was given...
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. Thus the history of the maunga serves as a record of the stories and experiences that have shaped Te Akitai Waiohua to this day and will continue to do so in the future. Matukutururu (Wiri Mountain) Matukutururu is a Waiohua pa site that was also utilised for kumara and food gardens. The numerous volcanic maunga in Tamaki Makaurau made ideal pa sites in their time, providing protection to the people living there, with defensive measures that took full advantage of higher ground. The adaptable, fertile volcanic soils also offered opportunities to cultivate food and kumara gardens and construct terraces, walls, storage pits, mounds and middens along the slopes. Kiwi Tamaki, progenitor of Te Akitai Waiohua and paramount chief of Waiohua, stayed mainly at Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill.) He seasonally moved between different maunga pa sites and ( stayed at each of them as it came time to harvest various types of food - fish, shellfish, birds, bird eggs and vegetables. Matukutururu is one of a pair of volcanic cones known as Nga Matukurua or ‘the two bitterns.’ The other cone, Matukutureia (XxXxxxxxxx’x Mountain) or ‘the watchful bittern’ was named after the Waiohua chief whose vigilance saved his people from being attacked at the pa. Matukutururu is the ‘careless bittern’ or ‘bittern standing at ease’ named after the chief who was assaulted at the pa after falling asleep at the end of a fishing expedition. The contemporary name of the maunga and surrounding area Wiri comes from Te Wirihana Takaanini, a paramount chief of Te Akitai Waiohua and direct descendant (great great grandson) of Kiwi Tamaki. The historical, cultural and spiritual association of Te Akitai Waiohua with the maunga of Tamaki Makaurau is essential to the preservation and affirmation of its tribal identity. These maunga were places of protection and sustenance for generations of Waiohua and were occupied through to the end of Kiwi Tamaki’s leadership at a time when the community was at its ( height in strength, unity and stability. Waiohua engaged in traditional and symbolic cultural practices on the maunga, but they were also homes where the people lived, fought and died. Thus the history of the maunga serves as a record of the stories and experiences that have shaped Te Akitai Waiohua to this day and will continue to do so in the future. Mount Xxxxxx (Owairaka) Owairaka is a Waiohua pa site that was also utilised for kumara and food gardens. The numerous volcanic maunga in Tamaki Makaurau made...
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 5. Kahuwera Scenic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-07) Near Piopio Ngāti Maniapoto has a long association with the mountain Kahuwera and the surrounding area. It remains an important geographical marker of identity for several Ngāti Maniapoto hapū in the locality. They include Ngāti Paretekawa and Ngāti Rahurahu from Napinapi marae, and the Ngāti Waiora people of Mōkau Kōhunui marae. Kahuwera was the site and the name of a whare wānanga established by Xxxxxx, one of the tohunga or priests on the Tainui waka and an ancestor particularly recorded in Ngāti Maniapoto whakapapa. Kahuwera was for many generations one of four main whare wānanga or houses of learning of the descendants of Xxxxxx xxxx. According to some within Ngāti Maniapoto, the mountain Kahuwera was the residence of patupaiarehe or fairy-like people and the abode of the sacred god, Uenuku. Uenuku was called upon during times of war. Tribal oral tradition also speaks of a comet that flies over Kahuwera in the direction of Marokopa. Tūkaiteuru is the name of that comet. Xxxxxx mentioned above was the guardian of the mauri of manu, or birdlife brought on the Tainui waka. It was at Kahuwera that he secreted the mauri in the forest to ensure an abundance of birds. When Ngāti Maniapoto hosted the great Waikato ariki, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero at Ōrongokoekoeā, hapū from throughout the area made contributions of local delicacies. Ngāti Te Paemate of Kahuwera (and Aorangi), in particular, are recorded as bringing the xxxxx-fattened tūī. Such abundance of birdlife along with the Mōkau River and its tributaries that ran below the mountain meant Kahuwera was an area well occupied by successive generations of Ngāti Maniapoto. Among them included the local rangatira Xx Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxx himself. Xxxxxxx had a kāinga or residence at the base of Kahuwera on the Mangakōwhai Stream named after that waterway. There is a significant burial cave atop of Kahuwera which contains many remains but has long since been closed up.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 7. Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-12) Near Waitomo Mangapohue Natural Bridge Scenic Reserve is one of several features in the area of significance to Ngāti Toa-Tūpahau. It is said that Xxxxxxx and Xxxx Xxxxxxx lived at the Mangapōhue natural bridge. They were rangatira of the area in days of old. Nearby on the hill Puketutu was the pā, Te Koipō (also possibly known as Puketutu). Te Koipō was a xxxx retreat of the Ngāti Waipari hapū of Ngāti Kinohaku and used on their bird snaring expeditions.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. On the southern boundary of the Mohakatino Conservation Area is Tawhitiraupeka. Tawhitiraupeka is a hill that was part of a track traversed by war parties making their way to Whanganui.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. The bounty of the Mōkau River valley was an abundant source of food. In previous times the Mōkau River valley supplied eels, freshwater crayfish and spawning piharau (lamprey eel). The adjacent forests and swamps were home to a variety of birdlife including waterfowl, kererū, kākā and kiwi as well as timber, flax and other resources. In post-European contact times, there were significant cultivations of potatoes, maize, tobacco and flax growing in the fertile ground around the Mōkau River. While the milling of timber was a key feature of Māori-Pākehā economic activity, many of the logs along the river were considered tapu, and manifestations of taniwha. Xx Xxxxx is the name of one such taniwha who manifests as a tōtara log and travels along the Mōkau River. Tikanga Māori prevailed well after the arrival of Europeans. In 1845 the area was declared tapu to any trade by the great Maniapoto chief, Xxxxxx Xxxxxx X. In 1854, his son Xx Xxxx and another chief, Xx Xxxx declared the river tapu.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 14. Ngatamahine Scenic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-19) Near Piopio Ngātamahine was historically an important site for its abundance of birdlife. People would come here from the nearby Ngāruawāhia and Rahuikākā kāinga to snare birds. It was also an area traversed by the ancestress Ruapūtahanga as she journeyed to Kāwhia to marry Xxxxxxx.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 18. Puketapu Historic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-23) Near Āria Puketapu Historic Reserve near Mōkauiti is a historical pā dated around 1750. However, knowledge of the historical particulars of the pā has been lost to Maniapoto tribal memory. There are several such pā throughout the xxxx where the physical landscape proves the once existence of a fortified village. Despite the scarcity of knowledge of these sites, they nonetheless remain culturally and historically significant to Ngāti Maniapoto. The name of the hill itself on which the pā was located signals the significance of this historical reserve, namely Puketapu, meaning sacred hill.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 22. Taumatini Scenic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-26) Near Āria Taumātini is a site of historical significance to Ngāti Maniapoto and in particular the hapū Ngāti Paemate whose present home marae is situated not too distant. Xxxxxxxxx was the name of an urupā on the hill by the same name. Pukewharangi and Korotangi are other burial sites in the vicinity of Taumātini. Aside from those wāhi tapu, this was a place where an abundance of birds were snared. This important resource would have supported the nearby pā whose archaeological remains are still evident, including that known as Pukeho.
STATEMENTS OF ASSOCIATION. 26. Totoro Scenic Reserve (as shown on deed plan OMCR-049-30) Near Āria The Totoro Scenic Reserve incorporating Owairua Hill takes its name from one of the more prominent settlements in the Upper Mōkau region. There are several pā and pits recorded in the surrounding area, illustrating a place once well occupied and whose people made use of the resources at Totoro. One of these pā in the region was that known as Pukewao which was occupied by Xxxxxx Xxxxxx. The area was once known for the great many kahikatea trees growing about there. While bird snaring was popular, a key local food resource was the famous silvery eels caught in pā tuna erected in the various streams. This included the Rangikōhua Stream which is on the reserve's northern boundary and the Mangapōhutu Stream on its southern boundary.
