Tuhinga 26: 1–19 Copyright © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (2015) Pä in Porirua: social settlements Pat Stodart Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand (
[email protected]) ABSTRACT: This paper examines the records of 12 pä (fortified settlements) and käinga (settlements) in use during the Ngäti Toa occupation of Porirua in the 1823–52 period. The histories of each pä and of their major builders are briefly recorded, focusing on the reasons for both the founding and the abandonment of the pä. This information is examined and the conclusion drawn that the creation of these pä was primarily the result of social dynamics. Environmental resources seem to affect the siting of these pä rather than causing their creation. This interpretation may shed some light on why so many pä were built throughout the later part of New Zealand prehistory and the European contact period. KEYWORDS: Pä, käinga, settlement pattern, Porirua, New Zealand, Ngäti Toa. Introduction Is it a pä? A note on The construction of a new pä or large käinga is a monu - nomenclature mental undertaking in the true sense of the word. It was not The term pä is used in this paper. Historically it was often carried out lightly, nor was it carried out for a single reason. used interchangeably with the term käinga. This is because At least two deliberate decisions need to be made before a in some instances it is difficult to determine if the defence of new pä is made: first to create a new pä; and second, where a settlement was considered a defining point from the to site it.