June 18, 2020
Housing development threatens Ngāruawāhia history
A Ngāruawāhia hapū is trying to protect ancient gardens and food storage pits from the bulldozers.
Ngāti Tamainupō intends to present a petition to local MP Nanaia Mahuta and Waikato District Council at a hui this Friday, to which developer Perry Group has also been invited.
Spokesperson Kimai Huirama says the importance of the gardens at the town's southern entrance was reflected in the story of a feast at Pukeiahua Pā 300 years ago to celebrate the union of her tūpuna Ngaere and Hekeiterangi of Ngāti Maniapoto.
"He called out the words 'wahia ngārua, open up the food pits,' and so began the feasting and celebration, and so our township of Ngāruawāhia are based on those words. Our beautiful Hakarimata Ranges also comes from that story because the mounds of food preserved for months resembled the hills behind Pukeiahua Pā," she says.
Kimai Huirama says Ngāti Tamainupō has been trying for 13 years to be recognised as mana whenua of Pukeiahua Pā, but it was not consulted when the land was rezoned for housing.
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