NAU MAI, HAERE MAI KI PUKEHOU MARAE
WHAKAPAPA
Pukehou Marae - A Little History
The whare-nui originally belonged to the Rohe whānau and was a typical whare of the day hence; its doorway is centred as opposed to being offset to the left as per usual of meetinghouses. The whare-puni was donated to the marae and in 1947 it was transported across the main highway on skids and established as the whare-nui.
Keke Haunga the youngest son of Te Whatu-i-āpiti and Te Huhuti is whom the whare-tipuna is named after and the whare-kāuta is named after his wife Tamaiwa. Renata Pukututu descends from Keke Haunga and Tamaiwa through his mother Riria Toia. This is how Renata acquired his interests in the surrounding blocks of the Pukehou and Te Aute district. Renata was born at Nukutaurua in the 1820s. On his return to the district, a young Renata was introduced to his tribal lands, including his ancestral pā near Lake Roto-a-Kiwa; Te Maikuku and Te Umu-a-Tehe. The significance of these ancestral names is reflected in the modern carvings of the marae and therefore of the marae being established as a meeting place for Renata’s descendants.
In the winter months of 1996, tragedy struck the marae when the dining room, also known as the Kauhehei Memorial Hall was gutted by a fire. This building was built after World War Two when the marae land had been officially set-aside as a meeting place and was officially opened in 1950. It was decided by the marae committee to rebuild the whare-kai and after many hui involving the planning and management of the project, much fundraising, business proposals and invaluable help and assistance from the marae and their communities throughout Tamatea, the new whare-kai was opened on February 28th 1998; also called Kauhehei.
Kauhehei and Kahuranaki are two prominent maunga in the district from which other maunga, Pukeiti, Pukehou and Pukenui according to legend are said to originate from. Both Kauhehei and Kahuranaki also adorn the paepae manuhiri at Pukehou Marae. Another significant landmark of the district is lake Roto-a-Tara, which was drained in the 1880s. However, its spiritual significance remains; indeed, we are reminded of its physical presence after heavy rainfalls when the old lakebed floods as it has done in recent years for long periods.
Te Whatu-i-āpiti romanced Te Huhuti after her epic swim across Lake Roto-a-Tara in the 1600s to be with him on Te Awarua-a-Porirua (the island) and they were soon married. The Roto-a-Tara pā was the main pā that they resided at when they brought up their four children Te Wawahanga, Hikawera II, Mihi-ki-te-kapua and their youngest Keke Haunga from whom the descendants of Pukehou, Te Aute, Te Haukē and the wider district descend. The following passage is taken from a waiata composed about Te Whatu-i-āpiti and Te Huhuti and celebrates their romance – “E noho e tama i roto i tō pā i Te Roto-a-Tara, hangaia tō whare ko Pakewairangi. E piki e tama ki runga ki tō pā. Whakatangi ai tō pū. Ko Te Aometikirangi rā te pūtōrino e tama. Ka puta ai koe ki te whaiao ki te ao mārama!”
Otirā, tēnei te Marae o Pukehou e mihi ake ki ngā ao e rere ana ki ō kehokeho, nō reira, e ngā toi whakahīhī o te takiwā nei me kī rā o Kahungunu, tēnā tātou katoa.
Renata Pukututu
Renata Pukututu is the common ancestor of Pukehou Marae.
Renata’s father was Hakaraia Te Tunu who belonged to Ngai Te Whatu-i-āpiti of the Pātangata district. Renata’s mother was Riria Toia who descended from Keke Haunga and so it is through his mother that Renata acquired his interests in the surrounding blocks of the Pukehou and Te Aute district. Renata was born at Nukutaurua in the 1820s.
On his return to the district, a young Renata was introduced to his tribal lands including his ancestral pā at Lake Roto-a-Kiwa, Te Maikuku, Roto-a-Kiwa and Te Umu-a-Tehe. Renata spent the rest of his life in the Pukehou district and became an influential man. It is from the marriage to his second wife; Urania Te Kopi and their six children, that the people of Pukehou Marae trace their descent back to; although there are other branches of whakapapa too.
In his later years, Renata lived next to the main highway near where the Pukehou Marae is situated today. He was one of the local chiefs present when land was gifted to the Crown, which resulted in the establishment of Te Aute College. Other local chiefs and contemporaries of Renata’s were Hoani Waikato and Karaitiana Te Kāhuirangi. Renata died in 1902.
Ngā Maunga (Mountains)
Kauhehei is the local maunga of the marae even though there are many maunga and puke that are part of the district.
According to local Māori legend, Kauhehei was female and eventually married Kahuranaki, which is the paramount maunga of the wider Heretaunga area.
Kauhehei is accessible of Te Aute Trust Road while Kahuranaki is accessible off Kahuranaki Road; the Tukituki River divides the two maunga.
It has been said that they bore children and their names were Pukehou, Pukenui and Pukeiti; all smaller maunga or puke of the area. Other maunga or pae maunga of the district include the Kaokaoroa Range to the east and the Raukawa range to the west; between these two ranges lie Ngā Puna-a-Tara.
Ngā Puna-a-Tara (Lakes)
The Pukehou district is located in a long valley starting at Pakipaki and extending south to Whatuma and beyond. It is characterised by a series of lakes traditionally known by local Māori as Ngā Puna-a-Tara.
The lakes Poukawa, Roto-a-Kiwa and Roto-a-Tara are within the wider Pukehou and Te Haukē districts and were all named by Tara around the year 1200. If one reconstructs the landscape in Tara’s day, the lakes were considerably larger and surrounded by dense forests, which extended up to the rims of the valley. All three lakes provided an abundant and never-ending supply of food and with these food resources it is no wonder that the area was favoured for settlement by Tara and his descendants.
Indeed the clearing of timber forests later enabled Tara’s descendants to develop cultivating grounds that were retained through the generations of occupiers of these lands. Hence, the area situated between the Kaokaoroa range and the Raukawa range known as Ngā Puna-a-Tara provided the perfect location for the descendants of Tara and Rangitāne to establish occupation, which was then followed by Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngai Te Whatu-i-āpiti; whom are the tāngata whenua today.
Lake Poukawa was the biggest of these three lakes and would have been the first of the three lakes encountered by Tara. The lake’s size was such that it stretched from the base of the Kaokaoroa range across to the base of the Raukawa range; however today, the lake is considerably smaller in size. Lake Roto-a-Kiwa, the smaller of the lakes is at the eastern end of Boundary road and is the middle lake of the three.
Traditionally, no one else dared enter this lake on account that it was reserved for Tara’s personal bathing. When the railway was being built through the district in the 1870s, it was built through the middle of the lake dividing it into two. Lake Roto-a-Kiwa has not stood the test of time as well as Poukawa and in recent years has been completely dried up at times. Today the lake is significantly smaller in size in that it only occupies one ‘side’ of the railway track; the other (eastern) side is farmed and only floods after heavy rainfall.
Lake Roto-a-Tara was particularly significant because of the island Te Awarua-a-Porirua, which became the stronghold known as Te Roto-a-Tara. Local tradition tells of the formation of this island when Tara encountered a taniwha (Te Awarua-a-Porirua) who had dared to devour the great quantity of food in Tara’s lake. During the battle between Tara and the taniwha the island was formed by the lashings of its tail. There were also two other islands on the lake, the smaller Pukekura near where Boundary road is today and the larger Moturoa at the southern end of the lake that now forms part of Penlee Station. The draining of lake Roto-a-Tara in the 1880s exposed a vast number of moa bones, which shows that they were once plentiful throughout the district. While the former lakebed is farmed and cropped today, it does flood for sustained periods after very heavy rainfalls as do lakes Poukawa and Roto-a-Kiwa.
Lake Roto-a-Tara
Lake Roto-a-Tara is particularly significant because of the island Te Awarua-a-Porirua, which became known as Te Roto-a-Tara pā. Local tradition tells of the formation of this island when Tara encountered a taniwha (Te Awarua-a-Porirua) who had dared to devour the great quantity of food in ‘his’ lake.
During the battle between Tara and the taniwha the island was formed by the lashings of the taniwha’s tail. There were also two other islands on the lake, the smaller Pukekura near where Boundary road is today and the larger Moturoa at the southern end of the lake near Drumpeel Road.
Te Awarua-o-Porirua or Te Roto-a-Tara pā holds a great deal of history that includes a love story between Te Whatu-i-āpiti and his wife (to be) Te Huhuti, inter-tribal warfare and famous battles between Māori tribes throughout the North Island. Between 1821 and the mid to late 1820s there were at least four major battles that involved thousands of warriors with the most famous of these known as ‘Te Kahupapa’. This battle was renowned for the causeway (kaupapa) that was built by the invading tribes under the Tūwharetoa chief Te Heuheu and that was erected over a period of months from the lakeshore out to the island. The local tribes under the esteemed Ngai Te Whatu-i-āpiti chief Pareihe not to be outdone built a huge platform (puhara) to meet this causeway and from which they could hurl trajectories at the invaders. Many lives were lost once the fighting started and although Pareihe was not defeated; he and his people escaped the island and eventually went into exile on the Mahia Peninsula with his ally, Te Wera Hauraki. Although some people did stay behind to maintain the ‘ahikā’ at the threat of further invasions, Pareihe and his people eventually returned to ‘chase out’ those invaders and reclaim their lands.
The lake was drained under Samuel William’s supervision to make way for agricultural land and the piles and stakes of the causeway (kahupapa) were still visible into the early 20th century. The pā was a home for successive generations of chiefs for around 600 years, a place for church services dating back to the early 1840s and, it was the meeting place of Ngai Te Whatu-i-āpiti chiefs in April of 1853 when land was gifted to the Crown for the purposes of a school – Te Aute College. While the lake has been gone for many years now, its spiritual significance will live on as will the many stories that are part of the lake and the island.
Old Pā Sites
There are three pā sites situated around Lake Roto-a-Kiwa. Roto-a-Kiwa pā was at the northern end of the lake.
Te Maikuku, a palisaded pā, was on the hill above the railway track where earthworks are to be seen now.
Te Umu-a-Tehe was another pā at the southern end of the lake on the hills just above where Samuel Williams built his sheep yards on the southern lakeshore.
Kahotea Pa
Overlooking the southeastern shores of Lake Roto-a-Tara was a fortified pā named Kahotea.
This was an old pā dating back to the Ngai Tara and Rangitāne period (prior to Ngāti Kahungunu) and it had many walking tracks converging onto it.
These walking tracks led to Pātangata, Roto-a-Kiwa, Te Aute and to Poukawa. This pā was also the girlhood home of Mahina-a-rangi.
Mahina-a-rangi was a descendant of Te Hika-a-Ruarauhanga. It was here in the late 1500s that Tūrongo of the Tainui people claimed Mahinaarangi for his bride and returned to the Waikato with her.
Their child was named Raukawa and is the eponymous ancestor of the Ngāti Raukawa tribe. It is highly probable that their son was named after the Raukawa range which formed the western rim of the Te Aute valley and by the fact that Raukawa (Kawakawa leaves) was the type of perfume that Mahinaarangi wore when courting Turongo.
This marriage links the Waikato people to the Ngāti Kahungunu people today where the names of two of the meetinghouses at the Tūrangawaewae marae (home of the late Māori Queen Dame Te Atāirangi Kāhu; and no doubt her son the new Māori King, Tuheitia) are Mahinaarangi and Turongo.
The Kahotea pā was the scene of many battles like its surrounding pā of the Te Aute valley.
HISTORICAL MARAE PHOTOS
