Historian and Advisor - Wiremu Puke

Historian and Advisor - Wiremu Puke

Nga Mana Toopu O Kirikiriroa - History of Hamilton

• 1825-1895 King Taawhiao 1st Maori king
• Hamilton was settled due to rich lands, reference made to Garden Place area as being “I cross the smooth belly of Kirikiriroa. Its gardens bursting with the fullness of good things” King Taawhiao.

• Burial ground on Grey St, Hotel on cnr Grey & Clyde Sts
• Nga Morehu - last survivor of Kirikiriroa Pa who saw conflict during the land wars of 1863 and was part of the resettlement Hukanui Pa
• Templeview made up Western boundary, and as far as Waikato Dairy Factory,
• Early settlers had a good command of the Maori language
• School gateway - from a book, not accurate
• Land in this area was taken not recompensed
• Hukanui are Tauhei are now the present marae of Ngati Wairere
• Five Cross Roads - Jubilee Bush -
• 76 years after the exodus of Ngati Wairere from Kirikirioa and the land confiscations 1940 family photo at Hukanui Pa
• Nine different hapu lived along the Waikato River. Female warrior? Admired strategist, her Pa is behind the Te Rapa Dairy Factory - Pa is 1km width

Taonga

• Toki taputapu (ceremonial adze) greenstone 68.8cm largest in the world recovered near the site of the Fairfield Bridge in 1924, now in Auckland museum, ranks among most significant taonga for Ngati Wairere.
• Taumata atua recovered from Pukete Pa  in 1942 in Waikato museum. Pukete Pa was last inhabited up to 1867 by Te Roore Tatangi and his sister
• Double sided Hei tiki was recovered from the old Pa name Opoia in Claudelands  - where the sonning carpark/railway bridge is

The Gateway- Te Waharoa

Whatanoa Gateway first to be erected at a major sporting venue - the two ancestors depict Haanui of Ngati Wairere and Hotumauea of Ngati Koura who established manawhenua.

Whatanoa Gateway is named after old pa site near the stadium which was destroyed in 1945. The Pa was also the site of an ancient urupa where the remains were exhumed. Most Pa are build on headlands, have the best springs and is near the river.

The carvings do not follow the pattern from this area, they were done by a carver possibly from the Hawke’s Bay. Top taniwha is peketahi. Hotumatuea was the grandson of the great warrior, Matoumoewe.

Whakatupu Kai (Growing Food)

• Kahikatea - tawa forests were important landmarks for Ngati Wairere, who gathered berries and hundred native birds many forests have since disappeared
• Used to get fish here that is now extinct, may be a result of the introduction of trout
• Kahikatea Red Koroi berries raw ripe, were stored in grounds for a brief period
• Tawa & hinau berries were gathered and placed in woven kits in fresh slowing streams or springs to remove the toxins
• Taro and kumara - The taro grown inside Te Parapara is believed to have been brought on board the Tainui Waka planted by Hoturoa and Whakaotirangi at Hawaiki iti Aotea Harbor. There used to be over 100 different names for the various varieties of Kumar. DNA origins have been traced to Peru and Asia.

The banks and terraces of the Waikato River were developed to enrich fertile soils for the growing of crops over centuries  - provided wealth and trade along the Waikato River and further afield.