Maori History of Ohariu1 and Maori Sites of Significance
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MAORI HISTORY OF OHARIU 1 AND MAORI SITES OF SIGNIFICANCE AND THE POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEA LEVEL RISE 1. The West Coast of Wellington has a rich Maori history with significant changes over time and the greatest of these were during the early and mid-19th Century including the arrival of the New Zealand Company settlers and the Colonial Government. 2. From the sites of the earliest Maori of the Kahui Maunga or Kahui Tipua who roamed large areas to the forbears of Ngai Tara, Ngati Ira, Muaupoko and Rangitane generally referred to as Whatonga people to the Te Atiawa –Ngati Tama and Taranaki whanui who came with Ngati Toa in the early 19 Century. 3. With sea level rise and climate change events such as storm surges and the like some of the old coastal sites will be destroyed and burials for example exposed. Some will simply be covered by rising fresh or sea water. It is unlikely that there would be any strategy to try to preserve these sites on Wellington West Coast but instead recording these particularly where things are exposed that might not have previously been recorded. 4. It is important to be aware of the existing sites which might otherwise be occupied by communities wanting to retreat from climate change effects. 5. Te Atiawa-Taranaki Whanui and other Mana Whenua groups have broad kaitiaki roles, not just with the protection of Maori sites of significance, but also with the broader environment matters including in relation to flora and fauna and habitat. 6. This report provides background to the complex Maori history of this area and raises some of the issues for Mana Whenua into the future. Te Atiawa – Taranaki whanui have been actively involved in this area now for 200 years and will continue in that role despite land ownership having effectively moved over that time. 1 Spelling of Owhariu is often Ohariu – this is a dialectal difference for an oral language 1 | P a g e Map VI from The Great Harbour of Tara by G. Leslie Adkin, 1959 7. The Maori sites of significance were concentrated in the coastal marine area however inland there were trails and gardens including places cleared from the forest to encourage the growth of aruhe/fern root. 8. Maori continue to have a significant involvement in the coastal fishery in the customary sector, recreational fishing as well as commercial fishing. Over time it is expected that the fishery will change with ocean acidification and ocean warming. Customary fishing permits are issued for this area by both Te Atiawa and Ngati Toa. There is no commercial shellfishing in this area however that could change. Illegal fishing continues but hopefully on a decreasing trajectory. The prime target is paua and that needs constant vigilance. 9. Freshwater species are less used nowadays however they remain as valuable indicators of the health of the rivers and stream of the area. Whitebait and eels are able to be fished commercially and need management. 10. The Opau Urupa/burial ground is an asset for the iwi, as the urupa in the Hutt Valley are filled. This requires voluntary help from the iwi and if possible from the local community. This is also a part of the relationship between the iwi and Meridian Energy. A major issue for the urupa is the feral goat population for which the iwi is seeking help. 11. There is some brief comment on some of the sites management: 2 | P a g e 12. Ohariu Pa – the sketch provided in the field book of the surveyor Nankeville in 1841 as part of his coastal survey portraits a relatively large Pa close to the beach at the mouth of the Makara River, however the sketch show few houses. The sketch also includes a site Komoorre which may be Kumuhore a name used for the garden area on the ridge above. It is believed that site is actually Te Arei kainga. This site is under the current village and is likely in future to be at risk. 3 | P a g e 13. Although this is further in Oterongo Bay this urupa is also likely to be inundated at some time. 14. There are many sites along the coastline that are at threat including some in Owhariu Bay. Morris Te Whiti Love Te Atiawa – Taranaki Whanui 7 August 2018 4 | P a g e APPENDIX I- MAORI HISTORY OF OHA RIU AND THE WELLINGTON WEST COAST 16. The area generally known as Ohariu was not very intensely occupied prior to colonization with the kainga of Ngutu Kaka on the headland above Pipinui Point (near Boom Rock) being a small settlement occupied by Te Atiawa and their Ngāti Tama kin. They were in residence when the New Zealand Company started the colonization of Wellington and the early settlers sought to clear and farm the land. The kāinga of Te Arei was just inland from Makara Beach on the Makara Stream. Along the Owhariu (Takarau) Stream there were significant cultivation areas. One of these was on Kumuhore which was a garden area to support Te Arei kāinga, Ohaua kāinga and Kaiwharawhara Pā. 17. Te Ara Taura is 3km north of Ngutu Kaka and may have been a place leading down to the beach. Te Ara Taura was the southern boundary of the reserves granted to Ngāti Toa by Colonel McCleverty as set out in Turtons Deeds2. It was accepted at that time Te Ara Taura was the boundary between Te Atiawa ki Poneke and Ngāti Toa. 18. Reserves in this area were also granted to the “Natives of Ohariu and Makara” being Native Reserves 77, 88 and 97 totaling an area of some 351 acres and a Block of land between 88 and 75 of some 131 acres. These reserves were within the site for this wind farm development. The natives of Ohariu and Makara also received other blocks in the region but outside this scheme.3 19. As all the village sites are outside the scheme area and will not be affected by site roading there should not be any effects on them from the scheme. Generally the village sites and other cultural sites (e.g. those listed as archaeological sites) are not visited by Māori today and the impacts on these sites including visual impacts are limited. The area has no public access roads and most public visits to this area are along the coastal track and often to Boom Rock. Access to the interior of the site is largely restricted to the farmers and some visitors to facilities in the area. 20. McCleverty’s census in 1847 shows 119 people living at Ohariu. A visit to Ohariu Pā from the Deputy Inspector of Police in 1846 stated that he estimated the pa was able to hold up to 400 people, although he also came to a figure of 120 people living there at the time. Many of these people had been removed from the Hutt Valley and settled at Ohariu4. The 2 H Hanson Turton, An Epitome of Official Documents relative to Native Affairs and Land Purchases in the North Island of New Zealand, George Didsbury, Government Printer, 1883, pp 127 -128 3 Jellicoe, Roland L, The New Zealand Company’s Native Reserves, Government Printer, Wellington, 1930. p55 4 Bremner, Julie, Onslow Historian Vol 9 No 3 1979, p5, citing Archives NM 46/354 5 | P a g e signatories for Turton Deed No 9 Ohariu and Makara were Ngapara, Te Pohe, Tihoira, and Tapoto. 21. McCleverty’s report on cultivations shows a total of 233acres 3roods 8perches of Māori cultivations on Ohariu and Makara, almost a third of his total cultivations recorded for the whole of Port Nicholson district. Fitzgerald’s report seems to indicate a much higher figure under cultivation in the area – perhaps as many as 1400 acres.5 5 Fitzgerald Report 13/5/1867 enclosed on Colonel Wakefield in the Secretary to the Secretary of the New Zealand Company, NZC 3/6 n.o.27 pp206-218 6 | P a g e APPENDIX II - MĀORI CULTURAL SITES OF SIGNIFICANCE Ngutu Kaka Kainga (M2 – Wellington District Plan Maori sites of significance) 22. At the northern end of this proposed development site is also the northernmost Te Atiawa/Taranaki whānui settlement of Ngutu Kaka kāinga. The kāinga was in the vicinity of what is regarded as the Northern and Western boundary of Te Atiawa/Taranaki Whānui. The traditional boundary was Kiakia/Kiekie just north of Pipinui Point and Boom Rock. This coastal village was situated on Pipinui Point some 5kilometres north of Makara Beach. The name means kaka beak which could refer to the bird’s beak or the plant Clianthus puniceus [kowhai ngutu kaka] which was often used to decorate villages. 23. Ngutu Kaka is part of the Ohariu – Te Ika a Maru Māori Precinct. The northern end of the precinct encompasses this site, Pipinui Point and Kiakia. The precinct includes the coastal escarpment and the coastal ridgeline. The purpose of the precinct is to provide recognition and protection of these sites from activities which might destroy their integrity. The intention of the District Plan was to develop the objectives for the management of the precinct however this has not yet occurred. 24. The site may also coincide with the archaeological site registered as R27/141 however that site is located on a sharp ridgeline south of the stream that emerges around Boom Rock and may have been part of a terrace Pā. 25. The site registered on the District Plan as M3 is an unnamed midden along the coastal escarpment ridge registered as R 27/23 9now N160/48.