Huharua, Pukewhanake and Nga Kuri a Wharei
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HUHARUA, PUKEWHANAKE, AND NGA KUru A WHAREI by Heather Bassett Richard Kay A research report commissioned by the Waitangi Tribunal forWai 47 December 1996 238 J ~ TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Figures 3 "11 Introduction 4 The Claim 4 :l 1. Buharua 6 '''-.- 1.1 Introduction 6 ~ 1.2 Raupatu and the Creation of Reserves 6 1.3 Alienation of Maori Reserves 12 1.4 Control, Management and Access to Huharua 17 J 1.5 Summary 20 2. Pukewhanake 22 J 2.1 Location and People ofPukewhanake 22 2.2 Raupatu West of the Wairoa River 23 2.3 Lot 178 Parish ofTe Puna 26 :1 2.4 Control, Use and Management ofPukewhanake 27 2.5 Summary 31 :J 3. Nga Kuri a Wharei 33 3.1 Traditional Boundary: 'Mai Tikirau ki Nga Kuri a Wharei' 33 :1 3.2 Raupatu Boundary 35 3.3 Summary 37 ] Bibliography 39 Appendix One: Statement of Claim, Wai 47 41 :J :J .J J "1 L ~ 1 ! u , ' ,- .. 2 239 TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Cultural Sites Around Tauranga Harbour (from Stokes, 1992, p 45) Figure 2: Fords from Plummers Point (from WI 35/161 Omokoroa - Te Puna, National Archives Wellington) Figure 3: Reserves in the Katikati Te Puna Purchase (from Stokes, 1990, p 192) Figure 4: Lot 210 Parish ofTe Puna (ML423A) Figure 5: Plummers Point 1886 (SO 5222) Figure 6: Lot 178 Parish ofTe Puna Today (SDIMap) Figure 7: Pa Sites on the Wairoa River 1864 (from Kahotea, 1996) Figure 8: Boundaries of the Katikati Te Puna Purchases (from Stokes, 1996) Figure 9: Plan of Native Reserves (ML 9760) Figure 10: Pukewhanake 1 October 1996 (Photos by author) Figure 11: Plan of the "Ngaiterangi" Purchase Deed (from Stokes, 1996) Figure 12: Plan of the Tawera Purchase Deed (from Stokes, 1996) Figure 13: Plan of the "Pirirakau" Purchase Deed (from Stokes, 1996) Figure 14: Boundaries of the Katikati Te Puna Purchases (from Stokes, 1996) Figure 15: Nga Kuri a Wharei and the Confiscation Line (from Stokes, Whanau a Tauwhao, p 19) 3 240 1. INTRODUCTION My name is Heather Bassett. I have a Bachelor of Arts Honours degree, majoring in history, from Waikato University. From 1993 to 1995 I worked as a researcher for the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, during which time I co-authored the Maori Land Legislation Manual. I was a staff member at the Waitangi Tribunal from June 1995 to October 1996, and have written research reports on the Otawa No 2 blocks (Wai 210) and the urbanisation of Maungatapu and Hairini (Wai 342 and Wai 370). I am now working as a contract historian based in Auckland. My name is Richard James Kay. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in history, from Otago University and a Master of Arts Honours degree, majoring in history, from Waikato University. I have a Diploma of Teaching (secondary) from the Auckland College of Education. Since 1994 I have been teaching history and classical studies in Wellington. I am now based in Auckland and this is my third report for the Waitangi Tribunal. All opinions, unless otherwise stated, are those of the authors. This report is a historical narrative, largely compiled from written sources. Although traditional evidence is cited, the report does not claim to speak for Maori. It is anticipated that the evidence produced in this report will be supplemented at Tribunal hearings by submissions from those Maori affected by the events herein described. The Claim (see Appendix One) The Wai 47 statement of claim was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal in February 1990. The claim was made on behalf of Ngati Pukenga, Ngaiterangi and Ngati Ranginui by William Ohia, who was then the chair of the Tauranga Moana Maori Trust Board. The claim lists several grievances relating to the whole of Tauranga Moana, including raupatu, compensation paid under the Tauranga Moana Trust Board Act 1981, Tauranga Harbour, and specific sites of significance. This report has been produced as a result of a commission from the Tribunal to research one aspect of the Wai 47 claim: 5. The failure of the Crown to provide for the control and management by the claimant iwi and hapu of reserve areas and wahi tapu of special significance to them, namely: Mauao (Mount Maunganui) Mangatawa Hill (Maunga Mana) Pukewhanake Otawhiwhi Reserve Nga Kuri a Wharei Huharua (plummers Point) Monmouth Redoubt 4 241 Mauao and Monmouth Redoubt are under research as part of commissions for other Tauranga claims (Wai 540 and Wai 580 respectively). This report covers Huharua, Pukewhanake and Nga Kuri a Wharei. Separate reports have also been completed under this research commission for Mangatawa and Otawhiwhi. There is also another statement of claim that is relevant to this report. Wai 611 was lodged with the Waitangi Tribunal in 1996 by Charles Tangitu on behalf of Ngati Ranginui. Wai 611 claims that the Crown has breached the Treaty with regard to the Tauranga Harbour, Mauao, the offshore islands, and Pukewhanake. 5 242 1. HUHARUA (PLUMMERS POINT) 1.1 INTRODUCTION Plummers Point is a narrow peninsula of land that is located centrally on the western shores of Tauranga Harbour on the Te Puna Estuary between Omokoroa and Te Puna (see Figure 1). It looks north easterly towards Matakana and Motuhoa Islands and the entrance to Tauranga Harbour, and is at the mouth of the Te Puna River, where a tidal estuary is formed It is located on an estuary that today is a quiet semi-residential enclave with a shoreline fringed with willow trees, a jetty, boat-ramp, and camping ground. Historically peninsulas on this part of the harbour have been places to ford between the points of land. Plummers Point was an invaluable communication link between settlements at Omokoroa and Te Puna (see Figure 2). It was also the site of a deep water wharf and road link during the early part of this century. Similarly, for pre-European Maori the area was significant as a place to ford the point over to Omokoroa as well as being a valuable kai moana resource, with its shellfish beds near the shoreline and sheltered fishing grounds in the estuary. Today it is still considered wahi tapu by local Maori with its urupa, pa and kainga sites. There are at least three important pa sites on the point of land between Te Puna and Omokoroa (see Figure 1). At the northern point were two pa, called Ongarahu and Huharua which, according to one source, were linked by an underground tunnel. l These pa were the site of important battles, and consequently there were many burial grounds in the area. Huharua has also been identified by D. Borell as the home of Pirirakau after Ngati Ranginui were defeated at Mauao by Ngaiterangi. 2 Further down the Te Puna estuary there is another point of land which was Te Hopuni pa. In the nineteenth century the name 'Huharua' seems to have been used to refer to the whole point of land, rather than the specific pa site. References made to the 'Huharua reserve' probably do not mean Huharua pa, as the reserves made for Maori in this area were actually limited to three small areas of land south of Huharua itself. This report looks at the Crown acquisition of the area now known as Plummers Point, and the allocation of reserves there for certain Maori. Details are given of the subsequent alienation of those reserves, and then some examples are given that illustrate Maori concerns about the management of wahi tapu at Huharua. 1.2 RAUPATU AND THE CREATION OF RESERVES Legal title to land at Plummers Point derives from the confiscation of the Tauranga district in 1865, and the subsequent purchase of the Katikati and Te Puna blocks by Crown agents. It is not the intention of this report to provide an historical account of the circumstances surrounding the purchase, and readers requiring further detail should consult reports which have been prepared for the Wai 215 inquiry, such as Evelyn Stokes, Te Raupatu 0 Tauranga Moana: The Confiscation of Tauranga I Personal communication, Patrick Nicholas, 24 September 1996 2 Tauranga Historical Society, 'Report on Pa Sites Between Pahoia and the Waimapu Stream', 1969, Tauranga Public Library, Konae Maori, Archaeology 6 .." i 243 ! OMOKOROA POINT. I I . 5"4. I ~I ~I II J, ~I ~ I ~/ I J / / ZZ5' / 81·Z· o. // ] P/un."ne,/ / / \~ 1 /./ / " , 1 1 j IV TA·URANGA s. D. , 1 .$CA~IE. lOCH. TO I/W. 244 Lands, and Hazel Riseborough, 'The Crown and Tauranga Moana,.3 This report gives a brief outline of the confiscation and purchase of land at Tauranga, and then looks at the creation of a reserve for Maori at Huharua. The Katikati Te Puna Purchase The entire Tauranga district (approximately 290,000 acres4), from Nga Kuri a Wharei to Wairakei, was initially confiscated under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 on 18 May 1865.5 During peace negotiations held between Governor Grey and some Tauranga chiefs, Grey promised that only one-quarter of the confiscated lands would be retained by the Crown, and the remaining three-quarters would be returned to Maori ownership. However, out of the three-quarters returned to Maori, the Crown immediately arranged to purchase a substantial area north of the Te Puna Stream, amounting to 93,188 acres.6 This area has become known as the 'Katikati Te Puna Purchase'. The purchase was achieved by a series of deeds signed by various groups of Maori. Initially the purchase was made from only eight Ngaiterangi chiefs, as described by '1'1 Professor Keith Sorrenson: ill late in August a party of chiefs visited Auckland to urge Grey to return their land.