Two Northland sites of significance to Māori listed

Caption: Māngungu Mission at Horeke in the Hokianga.

Two Northland sites of significance to Māori listed
MEDIA RELEASE 09 April 2021

Two Northland places that have strong heritage and cultural significance to Māori have been formally recognised by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

Māngungu at Horeke in the Hokianga has been added to the New Zealand Heritage List / Rārangi Kōrero as Wāhi Tūpuna – a place important to Māori for ancestral significance and associated cultural and traditional values.

A second place “ Piakoa at Tākou Bay " has been recognised as a Wāhi Tapu Area containing sites sacred to Māori in the traditional, spiritual, religious, ritual or mythological sense.

“These listings under the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Act give formal recognition to the cultural and heritage values of these places,” says Atareira Heihei, Senior Pouarahi Northland for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.

“We are grateful to iwi hapū who have shared their precious kōrero and other information with us as part of the research that went into the listings.”

Although the Māngungu Mission House is already listed as a Category 1 historic place “ and is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga “ it was important to acknowledge the deep connection many Māori have to the wider landscape through the Wāhi Tūpuna listing according to Atareiria.

Perhaps best known for being the site of the third and largest signing of Te Tiriti on February 12 1840, Māngungu is part of a wider Hokianga ancestral landscape extending back in time to the explorations of Kupe and Nukutawhiti.

In the late 1820s, the hau kāinga of this part of the Hokianga “ Ngāti Toro, Te Popoto and Te Ngahengae of Ngāpuhi iwi “ provided a place for Wesleyan missionaries to establish a base. The mission station that was established there came under the protection of Eruera Maihi Patuone, Tāmati Waka Nene, Makoare Te Taonui, Muriwai and others.

“Under the protection and support of these tūpuna, Māngungu became a significant place of cultural exchange on the Hokianga Harbour,” says Atareiria.

“The mission station balanced the commercial centre at nearby Hōreke, while paving the way for Hokianga hapū to engage with missionaries and their Christian message. Within a few years, Sunday services were frequently attended by hundreds of Māori converts, many of whom became teachers and preachers both at Māngungu and in communities around the country.”

On the east coast, Piakoa “ a network of traditional burial caves in the cliffs high above the coastline of Tākou Bay “ has been listed as a Wāhi Tapu area.

“A number of very significant rangatira were laid to rest here including Auwha who, with Whakaaria led the Ngāpuhi conquest along with his descendants,” says Atareiria.

“The grandson of Auwha“ Hongi Hika “ was also placed here for a time after his death from a musket ball wound at Pupuke in 1828 before being removed to another burial place near Kaikohe.”

An indicator of the tapu nature of the area was shown in an 1845 land deed relating to the sale of land nearby to missionary Philip King which had taken place in 1836. It was notable that Piakoa – also known as Opiako – was excluded from the sale, and was described as ‘the sacred place of Opiako’ on the deed, and as a ‘wahi tapu’ in a later 1856 survey.

The remains of many tūpuna were removed to Matauri for a Christian burial by the hau kainga in the 1930s.

“At the time, none of those who participated in the relocation or reburial were allowed to touch food with their hands, and they were fed morning and night by others in line with traditional Māori funerary practices,” says Atareiria.

“Although many tūpuna were relocated at this time, the area is still held to be tapu.”

Listing on the New Zealand Heritage List / Rārangi Kōrero informs and notifies owners, the public, community organisations, government agencies and local authorities about significant heritage places. It is also a source of information about these places for the purposes of the Resource Management Act.

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