picture by morgan bartlett from tolaga bay area school · te hā trust: the board members of the te...

Picture by Morgan Bartlett from Tolaga Bay Area School

Commemorating the start of a nation

Can you say Sestercentennial?

Strengthening local understanding

The first formal meetings between Māori and European with the arrival of HMS Endeavour to Tairāwhiti in 1769 make this region the most historic place in Aotearoa New Zealand — the conception of the nation.

Every October the region commemorates those meetings and this year there is an exciting line-up of events to inspire, inform and involve the community.

This weekend there’s an art forum, a unique waka hoe challenge, a heritage sailing on MV Takitimu, an interfaith celebration and, towards the end of October, a stunning children’s art exhibition in Gisborne and Uawa.

The events are a chance to acknowledge the arrival of all people to Aotearoa New Zealand and our navigational traditions, says Richard Brooking, chairman of the Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust.

“It’s an opportunity to continue reconciling the issues that exist between various communities so we can move past our grievances, and focus on our dual heritage and shared future.”

The Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust

The Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust has responsibility for supporting this region and its commemorative activities.

The trust was launched in 2014 by Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae who said at the time: “All New Zealanders have a stake in this exciting and meaningful commemoration. It will give us

a moment to pause and consider where we have come from, the voyaging feats of all our ancestors that ultimately led to our nation’s existence, the scientific legacies of our forebears and our understanding of what it means to be a New Zealander.”

The Te Hā Trust will play a pivotal role in organising the 250th regional and national commemorations in 2019.

While its name suggests that the events of 1769 are a focus for the commemoration activities, the trust aims to achieve so much more. As well as commemorating the moment when two cultures became linked, the sestercentennial will give us an opportunity to inspire today’s youth, says Mr Brooking.

“As tomorrow’s leaders, they need to learn about the beginnings of our nationhood, to appreciate our dual heritage and shared future.”

The commemorative activities are an opportunity to look at how that relationship has grown and changed over time and think of how it will progress in the next 250 years.

Mr Brooking said the commemorations of the coming together of two peoples will build on the great success of the 2012 Transit of Venus celebrations.

“We will build on the approach developed by Te Aitanga a Hauiti, utilising the ‘Dual Heritage-Shared Future’ theme.”

Mr Brooking said the anniversary also provided an unprecedented opportunity to promote the region while it was under the spotlight in 2019.

“Anaura, Uawa and Gisborne

are right at the heart of a hugely important cultural event in New Zealand history. Our wider focus is on identifying, preserving and promoting this region’s history for social, environmental, business and community economic development." Flax roots beginning

The Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust was formed as a result of a community hui in 2013 convened by Eastland Community Trust (ECT). At that hui, the 250th commemoration of the first formal meetings was described as an opportunity to

put Tairāwhiti under the global spotlight.

Hui participants came from all corners of the community for that July meeting and went on to form

a steering committee to start commemorations planning. The aim was to establish a trust responsible for helping plan the 2019 commemorations; developing and promoting initiatives enhancing the region’s cultural, social, ecological and economic aspects; and helping create legacies that engender a renewed pride and sense of identity.

The trust is now made up of 11 passionate community members, each with their own commitment to ensuring we understand and remember our dual heritage and look forward to our shared future.

The trustees believe the history of voyaging in this area creates an impressive backdrop to the commemorations this October, in the coming years, and in 2019.

With two Dames, a lawyer, senior iwi members, Māori and European historians, educators, a mayor, a sea captain and an architect — the community can be assured the trust enjoys full representation and lively debate!

Guiding the trust as it makes decisions is a pakeke group made up of iwi and hapū representatives each with a capacity to teach and guide the trust as it forges ahead.

What’s happening in 2019?October 2019 marks the 250th

anniversary of the first formal meetings between tangata whenua and English navigator Lieutenant James Cook on and off the coast of Te Tairāwhiti.

“The focus of the events and activities during this time will be to strengthen local understanding of significant historical events that have helped shape the nation and the people who inhabit it today,” says trustee Te Aturangi Nepia-Clamp.

“For many in the community the events of 1769 prompt both settling and unsettling memories. Relations between Māori and European got off to a bad start when Lieutenant James Cook first set foot on New Zealand soil with a number of Māori men killed,” he says.

“As the stuff of difficult history it is guaranteed to provoke a strong reaction, yet the commemorations provide an opportunity to ponder particular historical events, especially when you feel emotionally attached to them.

“Studying the events of the past gives us an understanding of how the world came to be, not only in Tairāwhiti but around New Zealand including all cultures of people.”

“A nation is bound together not by the past, but by the stories of the past that we tell one another in the present.” — Ernest Renan

ses·ter·cen·ten·ni·al [ses-ter-sen-ten-ee-uhl]; adjective 1. pertaining to or marking the completion of a period of 250 years. Come celebrate with us!

“Nau mai, haere atu ra taku reo pōhiri ki Tūranganui-a-Kiwa ki Te Tairāwhiti nui tonu.

Kia whakaeke mai ki Te Hā tīpuna ki Te Hā tangata. Ki Te Hā e whakanui nei i te hononga o te mātātoa rangatira ki runga i te Toka-a-Taiau. He rae ki te rae. He ihu ki te ihu. Te hau ka rere. Te ha ka tau.

Tēnei rā ia te tai o mihi e rere nei e rere nei. Nau mai, Whakatau mai rā.”

“Welcome and travel far my invitation to Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and across Tairāwhiti.

To alight upon Te Hā ancestry upon Te Hā community. To Te Hā who celebrates the joining of the great explorers at Te Toka-a-Taiau.

A meeting of peoples. A joining of cultures. A blending of heritage. A sharing of future. Warm wishes and kind regards. Greetings and welcome.”

A joining of cultures

Te Hā — Sharing of breath

■ Te Hā means sharing of breath — as in the traditional hongi.

■ The entire region will be at the centre of the 2019 commemorations which will have a national and international audience of millions.

■ For eight years the Te Ūnga Mai Trust acknowledged the arrival of all peoples to Aotearoa and the first formal meetings between Māori and European. The trust facilitated school education programmes in the region inspiring children to think about where they belonged and the history and events that helped shape them. Te Ūnga Mai Trust was wound down in 2014. The Te Hā Trust moved forward with its wider focus on identifying, preserving and promoting this region’s history for social, environmental, business and community economic development.

■ The 2012 Transit of Venus Project is a partnership between Te Aitanga a Hauiti and the Tolaga Bay community, The MacDiarmid Institute, the Royal Society of New Zealand, Victoria University, and the Allan Wilson Centre, Massey University. The events surrounding the 2004 Transit of Venus also contributed to the appreciation of a dual heritage, and Te Hā is grateful for the gift of the Dual Heritage – Shared Future concept.

■ Three other regions where meetings took place between tangata whenua and those on the Endeavour: Coromandel, Bay of Islands and Marlborough, have formed trusts based on the Te Hā approach and the four trusts are working together.

■ Te Hā is working closely with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and other central government, national and international organisations.

■ The Te Hā Trust gratefully acknowledges funding and in-kind support over the past two years from Gisborne District Council, the J.N. Williams Memorial Trust, H.B. Williams Turanga Trust, ECT, BDO Gisborne, Creative Communities Scheme and The Sunrise Foundation.

2 TE HĀ 1769-2019 SESTERCENTENNIAL

Te Hā Trust: The board members of the Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust, from left, are Mayor Meng Foon, Dr Jennie Harré Hindmarsh, Romia Whaanga, James Blackburne, Anne McGuire, Dame Bronwen Holdsworth, Olive Isaacs, Richard Brooking (chairman), Lisa Taylor, Te Aturangi Nepia-Clamp, Joe Martin, Temple Issacs, Dianne Irwin (inset) and Dame Anne Salmond (above right). Sir Neil Cossons is an advisory trustee.

Dual Heritage – Shared Future Rongowhakaata

As the representative for Rongowhakaata, our key focus is on inclusiveness and ensuring our stories are told from a Rongowhakaata perspective. We are currently working on our Rongowhakaata exhibitions for our marae, Tairāwhiti Museum and Te Papa, with a focus also on how these exhibitions will lead into the Te Hā event in 2019.

— Lisa Taylor

Te Aitanga a Hauiti

For Te Aitanga a Hauiti the Sestercentennial celebration is a continuation of the 2004 and 2012 Transit of Venus events. Te Hā has presented and will continue to present opportunities to strengthen and renew relationships across Polynesia, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Te Aitanga a Hauiti are proactive in connecting and collaborating with local, national and international communities, respecting diversity and the difference of opinion for a shared future.

— Anne McGuire

Ngati Oneone

At the time of Lieutenant James Cook’s and the Endeavour’s arrival in Tūranga, the chief of the people he first physically had contact with was Rākai-ā-Tane, whose descendants are today’s Ngāti Oneone of Te Poho-ō-Rāwiri Marae. Ngāti Oneone would like to acknowledge this key fact as a matter of first engagement and that we see that we have a pivotal role in these commemorations.

— Nick Tupara

Ngai Tāmanuhiri

Ngai Tāmanuhiri were involved in the first trade with Cook and his crew off their coastline. Several ornately decorated waka hoe (paddles) were traded. In 2013 one of those hoe returned on loan to Muriwai as part of a Ngai Tāmanuhiri exhibition.

— Richard Brooking

A sacred siteThe foreshore of the Turanganui

River is one of the world’s greatest voyaging sites. It is the landing place of the Horouta canoe, celebrating the achievements of the Polynesian star navigators. It is the place where Captain James Cook and his companions first came ashore in New Zealand, heralding the traditions of European exploration and discovery. It is the site where Tupaea, the Ra’iatean high priest navigator who sailed with Cook, first met Maori, marking the links between local people and their ancestral homelands. It is a meeting place of cultures, of challenges and shootings, as well as friendly exchanges. Here, Captain Cook and a local man saluted each other with a hongi on Te Toka a Taiau — the first greeting between a Maori and a European. It is a sacred site for all New Zealanders, to be celebrated with pride and treated with dignity.

— Dame Anne Salmond, Distinguished Professor of Māori Studies and Anthropology, University of Auckland

Get along to any of these events helping commemorate this region’s historical stories

Saturday, October 10Karakia and interfaith service: at the beach, Oneroa, 7am. Tūranganui Waka Hoe Challenge: organised by Horouta Waka Hoe. Senior races, The Cut, best viewing from Waikanae, 8am. Junior races, Marina Reserve, best view is from The Esplanade, 1.15pm (subject to sea conditions). Arts Forum: A Place for the Arts? Join the conversation, Rose Room, Lawson Field Theatre, 15 Fitzherbert Street, 1.30-3pm. Tūranganui Waka Hoe prizegiving and hangi: Rose Room, Lawson Field Theatre, 15 Fitzherbert Street, 3pm. Sunday, October 11Special heritage sailing of MV Takitimu: story-tellers on board (weather permitting), 1.45pm. Thursday, October 29Children’s art exhibition opening: venue and details TBC.

“All New Zealanders have a stake in this exciting and meaningful commemoration. It will give us a moment to pause and consider where we have come from, the voyaging feats of all our ancestors that ultimately led to our nation’s existence, the scientific legacies of our forebears and our understanding of what it means to be a New Zealander, to share this land with people who have come here from across the globe for a better life.” — Governor-General, His Excellency Sir Jerry Mateparae, Te Hā Patron.

The Te Hā 1769 Sestercentennial Trust was set up with three very simple missions:

To engage and inspire communities to understand and share the stories of our unique place and people that shaped our nation.

To commemorate the first meetings between Māori and Europeans on the 250th anniversary in October 2019.

To create legacies to enhance the wellbeing of future generations.

He rae ki te rae, he ihu ki te ihu, te hau ka rere, te ha ka tauA meeting of peoples, a mixing of cultures, a blending of

heritage, a sharing of future

Te Hā in your community this October

The Gisborne Herald • Wednesday, October 7, 2015 3The Gisborne Herald • Wednesday, October 7, 2015

The place where Captain James Cook’s ship the Endeavour first anchored in New Zealand was Tūranga-nui, a wide bay on the East Coast of the North Island.

According to early Land Court evidence, the area was occupied at that time by four main tribes — Rongowhakaata, Ngai Tahupoo (later known as Ngai Tāmanuhiri), Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti.

Inland, the bay was sheltered by ranges covered with thick forest, while the hills nearer the flats were sparsely clad in scrub, with fern and grasses on the ridges.

The central plains were braided by the courses and fertile fans of three major rivers, where taro, kumara, gourds and probably yams flourished in sunlit gardens.

Gardens were also cleared on frost-free hillsides near the rivers, and fernroot diggings were scattered around the bay.

Grasslands, wetlands, swamps, scrub and great stands of kahikātea, pukatea and tawa trees on the flats provided a variety of foods and materials for weaving and building.

Large fortified villages, or pā, were built on river bends or strategic hills, protecting houses, cooking sheds and storage pits for root crops.

Pigeons, kākā, pukeko and parakeets were plentiful on the plains, and thousands of ducks lived by the rivers and on the Awapuni Lagoon.

Creeks leading into the main rivers on either side of the central plain were crossed by eel weirs, built and maintained by particular families. Mullet, eels and whitebait swarmed in season in the tidal waterways.

The bay was famous for its crayfish, caught off Titirangi or further north along the coast, and the reefs and tidal flats harboured quantities of shellfish.

Pāua were plentiful off Onepoti (now Kaiti) and there were beds of white pipi off Oneroa, where the tāmure (snapper) came to feed, crunching the shells in their powerful jaws.

Sharks, kahawai, kingfish, flounder and many other species of fish were caught in the bay and there were a number of favourite fishing grounds, including Te-Wai-o-Hii-Harore at Waikanae, where a spring seeped into the ocean attracting kahawai which, according to one early Land Court witness, came there to drink the fresh water.

Now and then whales stranded on the beaches, to be claimed by the chiefly leaders of whichever kin-group controlled that part of the shoreline.

The northern end of the bay was dominated by the high hill of Titirangi (Kaiti Hill), facing the offshore island of Tuamotu with the sacred pool Pipitaiari nearby (which Maori believed had been magically brought there from Hawaiki by the

priestly ancestor Ruawharo).At the southern end lay Te Upoko-o-Te-

Kuri-a-Paoa, the white-cliffed headland named after the head of the dog Paoa, the ancestor credited with commanding the Horouta canoe.

Tribal history in the bay is well documented and extremely complex.

Each of the major tribal groupings was divided into many sub-groups, or hapū, linked by a maze of intermarriages and keeping in active contact with other groups both to the north and the south of the bay.

People summoned distant relatives in wartime and often lived for a while in the villages of their kinsfolk on either the mother’s or father’s side.

As Rutene Te Eke said in an 1875 Land Court hearing: “My ancestors were in the habit of going to and fro to other places. We do the same.”

Despite the fluidity of the local population, it is likely to have been large, for the first missionary congregations in the bay were estimated at 2000 and recent calculations based on crop-storage pits suggest that from 800 to 1000 people could have been fed from gardens on each of the major river fans in the bay.

According to William Williams, in 1888, the Rongowhakaata people first thought that

the Endeavour must be a floating island.Joel Polack, a European trader who recorded

an account given by the grandchildren of some of those who lived at Tūranga-nui when Cook arrived, said that the Endeavour was mistaken for a great bird and the local people had marvelled at the beauty and size of its wings.

When it came right into the bay, however, and they saw a “smaller bird, unfledged (without sails) descending into the water and a number of parti-coloured beings, but apparently in the human shape, also descending, the bird was regarded as a houseful of divinities”.

“Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the people.”

The “smaller bird” must have been one of the Endeavour’s two small boats, which were lowered that afternoon to take Cook, botanist artist Joseph Banks, natural historian Daniel Solander, surgeon William Monkhouse, astronomer Charles Green, Lieutenant John Gore, some seamen and marines ashore to look for a watering-place.

The Tūranga people had a legend of a great bird that carried one of their ancestors back to Tūranga after he fetched kūmara tubers from Hawaiki, and perhaps this influenced their interpretation of the Endeavour’s arrival.

SOURCE: Two Worlds, by Dame Anne Salmond

Tūranga-nui in 1769

TWO GREAT NAVIGATING TRADITIONS: Left, the replica of the HMS Endeavour sails into Poverty Bay in 2005 during its final voyage before returning to Australia. Above, Haunui, a waka hourua or ocean-going Polynesian voyaging canoe, spent several days in Tūranga-Gisborne in May last year. The Haunui and its crew ran a series of demonstration trips before sailing back to Auckland.

According to Ngāti Porou history, the Nuku-Tai-Memeha of Maui is the

foundation canoe. Lore has it, it lies upturned in stone on Hikurangi mountain.

Oral history has it that, of the major East Coast ancestors, Whironui (Whiro) and the Nukutere canoe were the first to arrive. Whiro (known as Hilo in Hawaii, Hiro in Tahiti and ’Iro in Rarotonga) is the most widely known navigating figure in East Polynesian tradition. His wife was Araiara. Their daughter, Huturangi, married the ancestor Paikea, who is said to have arrived from Hawaiki on a whale.

The Paikea traditions say that when the Hawaiki chief Uenuku was dressing his son’s hair in preparation for the launching of a new canoe, he used a special comb for Kahutiaterangi (Paikea). But when it came to Ruatapu he asked him to provide his own comb because he was from an inferior marriage. An infuriated Ruatapu decided to get even with his half-brothers, and bored a hole in their canoe, which he covered with a small plug. When he and his brothers had paddled the canoe out to sea beyond sight of land, Ruatapu pulled the plug from the hole and sank the canoe. All the brothers were

drowned except Paikea (Kahutiaterangi).Paikea chanted prayers, calling upon the

guardians of the sea to assist him. A taniwha (sea god) in the form of a whale was sent to his aid and carried him to land at Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island). From there he went on to Whakatane, and eventually to Whangara, on the East Coast. Paikea married Huturangi, the daughter of Whironui, and their descendants became the founders of Ngati Porou. A petrified rock that stands off the beach at Whangara is said to be Paikea’s whale.

The Horouta canoe belonged to Toi, the great Polynesian explorer. Māori history

has it that one day Kahukura, a visitor from Hawaiki, arrived with some dried kumara — which the locals had never eaten before. Toi gave the canoe to Kahukura to go and obtain the kumara back in Hawaiki. After retrieving the vegetables, Kahukura sent them back on the Horouta, which was commanded by Paoa.

The canoe made landfall at Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island) where a woman named Kanawa went ashore and brought some aruhe (fern root) aboard. Mixing the kumara with the aruhe, a common food, was considered an

offence and Kanawa was thrown overboard off the coast from Whakatane or Ohiwa Harbour, but not before the bow of the Horouta was damaged after striking an offshore reef. The crew hauled the canoe on to the shore and, as Paoa and a party went in search of suitable timber for a repair, Awapaka and another party set out to catch birds as food for the workmen repairing the vessel. Rangituroua, the priest, and others remained with the Horouta.

Paoa found a suitable tree on a mountain that was given the name of Maunga Haumi. Traditions say that because the streams were too small to float his timber to the sea, Paoa increased the volume of the streams by urinating into them, thus forming the Waioeka, Waikohu, Waipaoa and Motu rivers. The canoe was subsequently repaired and sailed around East Cape to Tūranganui (Gisborne), while Awapaka and Paoa walked there. Another crew member, a woman named Hinekauirangi, made an even longer overland journey from Ohiwa to the Tapuwaeroa Stream and then south to Tūranganui. The descendants from Horouta became Ngati Ruapani, Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti.

The Takitimu canoe is known in several regions. Northern East Coast accounts

say the Takitimu left Hawaiki after a dispute between the people of the chief Uenuku, and those of Ruawharo and Tupai. It is said that Ruawharo and his younger brother Tupai then took the Takitimu from their rivals and came to New Zealand, with Ruawharo as both commander and tohunga. The canoe landed at Whanga-o-Kena, the small islet off East Cape, before going on to Nukutaurua on Mahia Peninsula, where the crew dispersed. Ruawharo stayed at Mahia, Puhiariki went to Muriwhenua, and others went to Tauranga.

Southern East Coast traditions say the Takitimu left Hawaiki because of a quarrel over gardens, and the canoe was built at a place named Whangara. The commander was Tamatea-Arikinui and the canoe landed at Tauranga, where Tamatea disembarked. Others then took it to the East Coast and left settlers at several places including the Waiapu River, Uawa (Tolaga Bay), Turanganui (Gisborne), Nukutaurua (Mahia), Te Wairoa, the Mohaka River and Porangahau. Tamatea later went overland to Mahia and Turanganui, naming various places as he proceeded.

SOURCE: Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of NZ

Canoes of the East Coast


A gathering of faiths to bestow blessingsThe Tairāwhiti Interfaith Group has long

been involved with commemorating the first interactions of Māori and Lieutenant James Cook and his crew.

The group consists of a range of religions that meet in the spirit of peace and unity, an underlying ideal of many religions.

This year they will conduct a prayer ceremony at Waikanae Beach at 7am to open this year’s Te Hā 1769-2019 Sestercentennial Trust comemmorations.

The idea is that their ceremonies bestow blessings representative of each religion in the region.

Interfaith consists of Anglican, Bahá’í, Buddhist, Christian activist, Hindu, House of Breakthrough, Mormon, Muslim, Presbyterian, Ratana, Ringatu, Roman Catholic, Filipino and Seventh-Day Adventists faiths.

Previously the group conducted a rope ceremony where they chanted prayers while winding ropes around a rock — at the Cook Landing Site near Kaiti Beach some years, and other years by The Cut, near the mouth of the Tūranganui River — as a sign of unity.

The rock signified Te Toka a Taiau, a sacred rock that once rested in the river and was where Māori and Europeans first ressed noses in a hongi. Te Toka a Taiau was blown up by the marine department in 1877 as part of harbour developments.

The interfaith ceremony opened Te Unga Mai events for the day.

Interfaith member John Giffin, of the Bahá’í faith, says their purpose is to bring people together.

“I think it is really nice for the city to have members of such a diverse community come

together to bless an occasion.”Mr Giffin says Gisborne is where our

nation began.“Commemorating this meeting allows

Māori to tell their story of what happened. They deeply feel the death of the two warriors who were killed in that first conflict.

“It also gives a chance for people to hear Cook’s side of the story and tie the two together.

“Te Hā is putting a lot of energy into education — when you get a range of viewpoints we should get together and build from that.”

The first interfaith service for peace was held in April 2003 followed by a service in September. In 2004 the community welcomed world-renowned spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Holy Trinity Church.

“He called for greater understanding and tolerance between the world’s great religions,” says Mr Giffin.

From 2006 to 2013 the Te Unga Mai festival was opened with an interfaith service at Kaiti Beach and various locations.

The principal theme of the Te Unga Mai services was the meeting of two peoples in the Tairāwhiti district.

Other community dedications and blessings included a dawn interfaith service on the top of Titirangi-Kaiti Hill to open Gisborne city’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2005.

A blessing of the Beijing Olympic Sculpture Exhibition was held in 2007.

In May 2014 the group blessed the new wing of Tairāwhiti Museum and conducted a ceremony at the centenary remembrance of World War 1.

This year they participated in a dedication and blessing at Eastwoodhill at the site of the tree cathedral.

Mr Giffin says a memorandum of understanding between the group and the

Tairāwhiti Multicultural Council has been created.

“This recognises that both organisations share similar values and beliefs as we work together for a truly diverse Tairāwhiti.”

KEEPING THE FAITH: The Tairāwhiti Interfaith Group will open Te Hā Trust events this Saturday with a prayer service at Waikanae Beach, from 7am. In the back row, from left, are John Giffin, Mohammed Khan, Arish Naresh, Valerie Giffin and Ivan Cash, and in the front from left, Beverley Smith, Hamish Duncan, Lama Mepham, Charlie Pera and Jesil Cajes. They represent some of the religions, from Buddhism to Hinduism, that will be present for the group’s blessing. Picture by Paul Rickard

Tairāwhiti has a rich history of navigation and voyaging traditions. From the earliest legends of Maui, to founding voyagers like Kiwa and Paoa and stories of great waka that brought the �rst people to settle here.

In our more recent history, the explorer Captain Cook and the crew of the HMS Endeavour �rst landed in New Zealand, here in Tairāwhiti in1769.

Tairāwhiti Navigations is about allowing people to experience our unique culture and celebrating our local stories.

We’re enhancing our landmark places with new infrastructure and design to create a heritage trail with features that re�ect our navigational past.

The scope of the project over the next four years focuses on the Inner Harbour and Tītīrangi Reserve, it also links to and adds value to many other Council and community-led projects.

Inner Harbour RedevelopmentThe key features will be a new road layout, improved parking, landscaping, new lighting, seating and cycle racks.

Also with improved links to riverside walkways and over the rail-bridge.

Turanganui BridgeA feature bridge over the Turanganui River connecting the Slipway to Waikanae.

A feature bridge over the Turanganui River

SlipwayUpgrading the slipway will provide a unique destination site. It holds history for local commercial vessels, and is also close to the known meeting point of Māori and European.

For more information15 Fitzherbert Street, GisbornePHONE 867 2049 FREE PHONE 0800 653 800EMAIL [email protected] www.gdc.govt.nz

Tītīrangi RestorationThe reserve is being revitalized with the removal of pine trees and exotics, replanted with native plants like Karamu, Manuka and Cabbage trees.

Enhancements will also be made to the network of tracks, historical sites and look out points.

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JUST LIKE OUR ANCESTORS: Crews taking part in a previous remebrance regatta heading out to paddle around the bay to spots visited by tipuna of yester year. Pictures by Paul Rickard

Remembrance regattaHonouring its name, the

Horouta Waka Hoe Club is putting on a regatta as part of Te Hā commemorations.

The club takes its name from the first recorded Māori waka to discover Gisborne, so the regatta is a way of recognising the first “discovery” and the first meeting between Māori and European.

The event will start at 7.30am on Saturday, October 10 after a prayer service by the Tairāwhiti Interfaith Group at Waikanae Beach. It will serve as the start of this year’s Te Hā Sestercentennial Trust commemorations — which four years from now, in 2019, will represent 250 years since Lieutenant James Cook and the Endeavour made the first European landing in Aotearoa-New Zealand here.

Acting club president Walton Walker says there are two courses. One is a 12 kilometre paddle inside the bay, and the second is a 22km paddle that traces sites of significance to the Tūranganui a Kiwa rohe.

“People who paddle would say

that besides the competitions, it is about the sheer exhilaration of paddling,” says Mr Walker.

“Going out to sea on a nice day is a special occasion, there is nothing else like it. For this regatta there is an added sense of looking back and reflecting on what it would have been like when all the early seafaring waka landed here.

“Some places on the course are exactly the same spots our tipuna would have been.”

Te Hā is about the spirit of recognising the first meetings between Lieutenant Cook and tangata whenua.

“In Cook’s writings, he talks of the Endeavour being surrounded by waka and the locals wanting to board and trade. This regatta will evoke those feelings and a sense of times past,” says Mr Walker.

“This day provides an opportunity to reflect on the region’s tangata whenua settlement and history, and the significance of the sailing traditions of both Māori and European cultures — culminating in the first meetings between the two in 1769.”

AND THEY’RE OFF AND RACING: The inaugural Tūranganui-a-Kiwa Waka Hoe Challenge race around the bay took place on October 9, 2010 as part of that year’s Te Unga Mai commemorations. Competitors battled strong winds and swell further out in the bay, with Auckland’s Nga Hoe Horo team Herberts on Tour taking out the men’s division. Mareikura Gisborne won the women’s W6, Hawke’s Bay team Double Trouble won the mixed W2 waka hoe, Dallas Parkinson won the women’s surf ski, Matt Sutton won the men’s surf ski and Sean Hovell won the 12km stand-up paddle board.

Horo: Be quick, fast and swift. Uta: shore, ashore, land. Horouta Waka Hoe Club has evolved from

one old borrowed “barge” nearly two decades ago, to being the best waka ama club in the country.

The club was formed by a group of enthusiastic parents and supporters in the winter of 1998 under the Horouta Sports Club.

They soon separated from the sports entity to become an incorporated society and club in their own right.

Horouta’s first waka was an old, OC6, six-man waka called Rakaimataura, borrowed from a Gisborne whānau and affectionately nicknamed The Barge. That same year the club negotiated a 12-month use of another OC6 named Porourangi from Te Runanga o Ngati Porou.

Once the club had Rakaimataura and Porourangi, the journey and hard work began.

They started off with 84 competitive members, most from the junior ranks — other recreational paddlers increased the overall membership to around 110.

With funding from the now disbanded Hillary Commission, grants and fundraising, Horouta Waka Hoe Club purchased their first new OC6 from Victor Hawker of Seahawke Canoes in 1999. The club of course named their new waka Horouta. It was the first new OC6 canoe in the region for eight years.

Horouta was blessed and launched at a pre-dawn ceremony by local elders, in line with early Māori custom.

Porourangi and Rakaimataura have long since been returned to their owners and over

the years the club’s fleet and membership numbers have increased.

With more members came more success. The 2008 National Sprint Squad was the most successful ever in the club’s short history and as in the 2002, 2003, 2004 nationals, Horouta won the highest overall medal tally and the most golds of any competing club.

Since 2011 Horouta has been the top waka ama club in the country, based on results at the national sprint championships held at Lake Karapiro.

The club has held the top club trophy for four of the five times it has been awarded, and is the present holder.

Horouta’s fleet now consists of 10 OC6s — Horouta, Paoa, Kahutia Te Rangi, Hinematioro, Maia, Ruapani, Te Taniwha, Te

Aotaihi, Tuhorouta and Hineakua.There are four OC2s — Aurora, Kotuku,

Kotare, Hukatai; and eight OC1s — Nanaia, Barney, Uncle Tom, Kuri, Hukataiora, Tawhaki, Tairua and Hinerupe.

Each vessel’s name represents an important story of the Horouta legacy, ancient and modern.


FIRST TO ARRIVE: A double-hulled waka in Poverty Bay, with part of Te Kuri a Paoa/Young Nicks Head in the background.

Club named after Tūranganui a Kiwa’s first waka, Horouta

It is said that after the Horouta waka was built, during sea trials, it was so quick that those on shore who tried to run alongside her struggled to keep up, hence the name Horouta — Land swiftly passing.

Horouta Waka Hoe Club is named after the ancestral waka of the same name that sailed the Pacific Ocean from Hawaiki to Aotearoa around 1350AD.

It was led by its captain Paoa and the high priest, Kiwa. These skilful sailors, guided by their knowledge of the winds, sea currents and navigation by the stars, made landfall in Aotearoa where they and their people settled.

The journey of Horouta was as demanding as it was eventful. Because of an on-board calamity, the waka struck rocks and came ashore at Ohiwa, near Ōpotiki in the Bay of Plenty.

Although the damage to the waka could be repaired, the crew split into groups to make the journey overland instead, to a destination point on the eastern coastline.

One group led by Paoa sought materials to repair the waka, and set out to explore the hinterland for wood suitable to repair the damaged haumi (hull piece) and punake (bow).

Another group led by Hine-ka-ui-rangi consisted of women and children, and still another group called Te Tira Tapu-a-Pouheni — The Sacred Group of Pouheni — travelled separately. They carried calabashes containing the mauri or spiritual essence of their atua, or gods, to set down in the new settlement.

Meanwhile, Kiwa and a skeleton crew remained with the Horouta and unknown to the various parties that had gone overland, refloated it and sailed around the coastline.

From Ōhiwa, Paoa and his party followed the coastline north to Te Kaha and turned inland up the Te Kereu stream. Traversing the Raukumara ranges they entered the Tapuwaeroa valley and continued on to Tuparoa near Ruatorea.

The group continued their search of the land, keeping a watchful eye out for Pouheni and his party. From Waitekaha to Waipiro then to Anaura, Paoa eventually arrived at Whangarā where he came upon Pouheni and his group.

By this time Pouheni’s group was close to death from starvation. Because of their tapu, or sacredness, they could not prepare food, nor were there any commoners among them to cook.

After reviving the group, Paoa turned inland again towards the Raukumara ranges and, in the area of the Mangatū stream, found a tree he thought would be suitable to make a replacement haumi. The full name of the stream is Te Manga-i-tu-ai-te-rakau-a-Paoa — The stream where stood the tree of Paoa.

The log was floated down the Mangatū into the Waipaoa, which means the water of Paoa, and to the sea near Matawhero in Gisborne.

Paoa arrived rather surprised to find that Kiwa and the Horouta had already made landfall and that Kiwa had laid claim to the land, bestowing his name, Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, the great landing place of Kiwa.

This, as we know, is the original name of Gisborne. Many of the tribes of the Tairāwhiti region, including the Gisborne area, trace descent from Paoa and Kiwa and the people of the Horouta waka. This includes members of the club, therefore the choice of the name Horouta is appropriate for this reason — aside from the seafaring tradition of those who sailed her. The fact that Horouta was also a very fast waka has not been lost in the vision of the club in striving to be the best waka ama club in the country.

Therefore the story of Horouta, its legacy and tradition has provided the inspiration and mantra for the club. Many of the names carried by the club’s waka and teams celebrate its origins and the deeds of its illustrious seafaring descendants.

The Pacific was the first ocean to be explored and settled, and its history is one of voyages. New Zealand, isolated far to the south, was the last substantial land mass to be reached.

There were two distinct voyaging periods — ancient voyaging, from Asia to Near Oceania; and recent voyaging, into Remote Oceania.

In the former period (50,000-25,000BC), peoples from mainland Asia set off in simple rafts, gradually dispersing through the large islands of South-East Asia, eventually reaching Australia and New Guinea. These ancient people ultimately travelled as far into Melanesia as the southern end of the main chain of the Solomon Islands in a wider region known as Near Oceania and encompassing New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands and the Solomons.

In the latter period — around 1200BC — migration began into Remote Oceania, consisting of Melanesia south-east of the Solomons, Micronesia and Polynesia. The islands had been beyond the reach of simple water craft but the migrating people, known as Lapita, had learned to explore the open sea and survive. Skilled navigators, they began exploring in sophisticated canoes, first to South America then back to Remote Oceania then, around 1300AD, on to New Zealand and the northern satellite islands of Norfolk and the Kermadecs. Later still, early Māori exploring eastward from New Zealand discovered the Chatham Islands, just a few centuries before the first European expeditions reached the Pacific.

SOURCE: Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of NZ

Pacific history one of voyages

Te HāSharing of breath“Acknowledging the proud traditions of yesterday — working together for a prosperous tomorrow”

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A place for the Arts? In 2019 our region and nation will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the first meetings of tangata whenua and those on the Endeavour. This significant event encourages us to consider our region’s unique and fascinating heritage. Join the conversation at The Rose Room, Lawson Field Theatre, 10 October, 1.30 - 3pm. Together we’ll be forming an action plan to create arts opportunities and legacies for our community - today, in 2019 and beyond. This is an open invitation to all creative practitioners, organisations and supporters of all the arts in Tairāwhiti. Please rsvp to [email protected] 027 608 2902 Afternoon tea will be provided. You are also invited to join our bus tour of heritage sites around Gisborne, hosted by some of our region’s spectacular story-tellers, which will depart at 3 pm.

He wāhi mō ngā Toi? Hai te tau 2019 ka whakamaharatia te tūtakitanga tuatahi o te tangata whenua ki te rūranga Endeavor e 250 tau ki muri. He mea āki tēnei hui nui whakaharahara i a tātou o te rohe nei ki te whai whakaaro atu ki tō tāua motuhaketanga me ōna kōrero katoa. Tūhono mai ki tētahi whāriki kōrero ka tū ki Lawson Field Theatre, te 10 o Oketopa, hai te ahiahi 1:30 ki te 3. Ka whakatakotoria ngātahitia e tātou he mahere mahi hei whakarato kaupapa mahi toi mā te hapori – mō ēnei rā tonu nei, mō te tau 2019, ā, haere ake nei. He kupu tū rāhiri ki ngā mātanga pūkenga auaha, ki ngā rōpu whakahaere me ngā kaitaunaki i ngā kaupapa mahi toi i te Tairāwhiti nei. Tēnā koa whakapā ki a [email protected] 027 608 2902 He kai o te ahiahi anō ka hora. Ka whai wāhi mai anō koe ki te hāereere mā runga pahi ki te tūtakitaki ki ngā wāhi motuhenga i Tūranga. Me te aha, ka manaakitia e tētahi hunga mōhio nui ki ngā kōrero o te whaitua. Ka wehe te pahi nei hei te 3 i te ahiahi.

Daniel Jones, 2001. Collection Tairāwhiti Museum 2001.34







Exploring history through art

Artwork by Tairāwhiti youth is being used to inspire conversations about the region’s history.

As part of a pilot programme, last month Te Hā took a group of 12 students back in time to 1769 for a two-day exploration around Uawa and Gisborne of stories about the first meetings between Māori and European.

Armed with sketch books, the Gisborne Intermediate and Tolaga Bay Area School students were guided around sites of historical significance in Tūranga and Uawa and out to sea on the MV Takitimu.

After the tour the students participated in the Jarratt Create and Educate workshop. There they channelled what they had learned about Māori and European meetings, into art.

Pete Jarratt says the two tour days were for inspiration.

“They need to touch, feel and see it — that is what the inspiration days were for.”

The children spent three days at a workshop at Tolaga Bay Area School, where Mr Jarratt and wife Ellen took them through their tried-and-true artistic process.

“Being from different schools it was a bit like the first meetings actually, they were all a bit standoffish. Once we got them

interacting and playing on the beach, they all came together as a group.”

Each student had to pick one of seven stories about the first meetings of Māori and Europeans in 1769, as the focus for their artwork.

“After that they went through the designs in their sketchbooks

and came up with words that described what people then might have been feeling.”

Then they got to work developing and adding colour to their designs. Mr Jarratt says the results are stunning.

“We always back the children, trust the process and let the kids’ imagination do the rest. You can see bits of each child reflected in their work.”

Mr Jarratt says the inspiration phase is crucial.

“If you told children to draw what 1769 might have been like,

you would get a lot of the same interpretations that they see in history books. When they go through this process, you see incredibly individual art.

“It is not about being a good artist, anyone can do this. It is about putting yourself out there.”

Mr Jarratt says children are the way forward in terms of the region coming together.

“When we talk about our history there are a lot of mixed emotions but from children you get this honesty, and art is a non-confrontational way to explore it.”

The main idea of the pilot programme, which Te Hā hopes to repeat in the lead-up to 2019, is that the children and their artwork will inspire wider conversations and education about the first meetings.

“The idea is that they go back to the dinner table or sports ground, or wherever, and talk about it.”

The mixed media artwork the children created will be on display at exhibitions later this month. Each piece will be accompanied by the story it was inspired by.

“The great thing with this is that two children who pick the same story will come up with completely different interpretations of it. That is what starts the discussion.”

CONVERSATION STARTER: Calais Savage from Tolaga Bay Area School works on his piece exploring the first meetings between Maori and Europeans. Calais was part of a group of 12 students who took part in an art programme at the Jarratt Create and Educate workshop. Giving him a helping hand is Ellen Jarratt. Picture supplied

“When we talk about our history there are a lot of mixed emotions but from children you get this honesty, and art is a non-confrontational way to explore it.” — Pete Jarratt


picture by morgan bartlett from tolaga bay area school · te hā trust: the board members of the te...

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