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Ngati Manu Iwi
Ngati Manu Marae
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LOCATION
Ngati Manu Marae is nestled in the Bay of Islands settlement of Karetu, Northland.
http://www.geonames.org/6230625/karetu-marae.html
Karetu means "sweet scented, holy grass". Legend tells us that, a beautiful ancestress "Te Atukaweia" of Kapotai hapu, Waikare (who once owned and occupied the land of Karetu). She was betrothed to Koikoi, a Warrior of the southern Taou hapu in Tamaki Makaurau.
Preparations were made for their betrothal and with that, large quantities of Karetu grasses were gathered and used to permeate the lining of the walls and floor of the marital whare. Te Atukaweia and Koikoi then consummated their marriage in the new dwelling.
The sweet scents of the Karetu grass were so abundant, so aromatic and sweet scented that the valley was renamed "The House of Karetu". The Karetu grass still grows today in the Karetu Valley.
The Map shows Ngati Manu Marae located inland, Bay of Islands. Also shows "Rakaumangamanga mai ki Hawaiki" the sacred maunga (mountain) of Taumarere which has seven peaks, the eastern navigational boundary of "Te Wharetapu o Ngapuhi" (The Sacred House of Ngapuhi). This was a resting place for the huge seafaring waka which frequently migrated to Aotearoa from Hawaiki and other islands of "Te Moana nui a Kiwa" our Great Pacifika Nations. Rakaumangamanga is also known by Pakeha as Cape Brett.
Karetu settlement is in the Bay of Islands, Northland. The Karetu River flows from the Ngaiotonga Kororareka (Russell) Forest in the southeast and flows through Karetu and joins the Taumarere River before it flows out to Opua and the Bay of Islands waterways, continuing out to Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Great Pacific Ocean).
PUKETOHUNOA TE MAUNGA O NGATI MANU
The view shows the Sacred Maunga "Puketohunoa" aloft. In the early days, this was originally occupied as a settlement Pa by the Great Chief Pomarenui (Pomare I) of Ngati Manu. The homestead visible in the foreground is the Harawene (Sullivan) whanau. The two trees below the Harawene Homestead stand on the banks of the Karetu River and below the Ngati Manu Marae is Karetu Road. *Photo taken July 2008 - the verandah of the Ngati Manu Tupunawhare, Ngati Manu Marae, Karetu.
Other Source References
The National Library of New Zealand has a portrait of this particular settlement Pa "Puketohunoa" ki Karetu. To note, that this is one of the many "Pa" of the Great Chief Pomarenui (Pomare I) of Ngati Manu.
* A photographic copy portrait can be obtained by the people.
www.teara.govt.nz - historical information on Pomare I, Whetoi and Pomare II, Whiria.
www.pbase.com - historical information of Tahiti and name origin of Pomare.
Page last updated 21 Jan 2011
