Marae History
Raupunga Te Huki Marae...
1. Description.
Raupunga Te Huki Marae is situated on Putere Road, Raupunga - 460m off State Highway 2 in Hawkes Bay, approximately 20 minutes south of Wairoa.
Legal Description: Mohaka A 18 Block
Area: 2.8372 hectares more of less
Purpose: Maori reservation for the purpose of a meeting place and meeting house site, recreation and sports ground for the common use and benefit of Ngati Pahauwera iwi.
2. Brief History.
Having survived the Musket wars of the early 1800s' Ngati Pahauwera embraced the arrival of Europeans. The price of European support was land, so much so, that Ngati Pahauwera became marginalised to the north bank of the Mohaka river. The Boer War and World War I & II saw many of our men join the fight for World peace, the lucky ones that returned, came home to an even more colonised life.
Colonisation meant the arrival of the railway, and state highway two. Sir Apirana Ngata introduced the Mohaka Maori Land Development Scheme. Land was divided up among our Pahauwera whanau under a ballot system. Returned servicemen were offered parcels of land to farm as part of their repatriation and rehabilitation back to civilian life. Colonisation brought with it the infrastructure for community growth; a railway station, a post office, shops, a Primary School, a High School, a ministry of works depot; and so the community of Raupunga was born.
The Raupunga Marae site - was offered to the community and included the adjoining site for a school by Maraea Ropihana and Ereti Te Urupu as a memorial to their late Grandfather and our last Paramount Chief, Paora Rerepu Te Urupu.
Up until 2004 all that remained of the community amenities was the Raupunga School which finally closed its doors in December of 2004 and Raupunga Te Huki Marae, however, the tragedy of 11 April 2007 saw our last bastion, our marae razed to the ground.
Kotahitanga Memorial Hall (as told by Nell Adsett)
Building of the Memorial Hall was started in November 1956 and finished May 1958 for the princely sum of seven thousand pounds. It was opened by Eruera Tirikatene. The flagstaff was unveiled by Mr J. Omana of Te Mahia and the dedications were performed by Bishop Panapa.
The inaugural celebrations ended with a Debutante Ball with debs being presented to Sir Turi and Lady Carroll of Wairoa.
"Fundraising took many years with varied activities, hockey, rugby, softball tournaments, pastoral & field sports days. Each family took a turn arranging and running sports, social events, hangi etc... Occasionally dances were held in the Kia Ora Picture Hall (thats another story!). After the pictures had finished the seating was rearranged and a clear area left for a dance floor. In those days all dances, balls, social events etc. had to finish at midnight. Raffles cost 6 pence (5c) a ticket, dances two shillings and sixpence (25c) and balls and cabarets 10 shillings ($1.00) and one pound ($2.00). So you can understand why fundraising started in the early 1940's and the building didn't get started until the mid 1950's."
"Almost every weekend was taken up with money making events. We even spent all day in Napier picking and packing tomatoes. A very focussed and active village. With other Maraes fundraising also it was just one big "Merry-go-round of hype, work and very empty pockets. The fundraising was endless."
Te Kotahitanga was opened as a place to gather for all occasions. Early on when tangihanga were held, those that lay in state were rested on the verandah and a paepae for haukainga and manuhiri was set up in front of the hall.
A special feature inside above the entrance door to the hall was the Roll of Honour commemorating the iwi's fallen soldiers. A plaque was also erected to remember vice-regal visits by Sir Bernard and Lady Fergusson Dec 9th 1963 and March 1965 when Te Huki and Te Whatu i Apiti greenstone mere were presented to the visitors by Paora Rerepu Te Urupu.
Beginning in 1970 as an opportunity to enhance the interior of Te Kotahitanga Hall, an arts programme was run under the guidance of Ngati Pahauwera artist and carver Sandy Adsett, local people and teacher trainees created a "priceless" comtemporary arts collection which told the tales of Ngati Pahauwera people from the walls around the hall.
Te Huki Whare Tipuna
It was always the wish of the people over the years, to build a separate wharenui to overcome the multi purpose use of the hall and in January of 1982, work began to construct Te Huki wharenui. ...more fundraising.
In 1983 , Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan opened the main meeting house Te Huki. The whare was named after this outstanding tipuna of the Te Wairoa district who, through marriage and skilful diplomacy, was able to unite iwi of the East Coast from Whangara to Porangahau. This unificattion is commonly termed "Te Kupenga a Te Huki" - the net of Te Huki. The whakairo, tukutuku and kowhaiwhai extended the theme of Te Huki's net to include the links to all the people of Aotearoa and beyond to nga atua Maori our spiritual connections to Io. The whare was revered for its unique style of carving displayed and the harmonious use of lighting and colour achieved by Sandy Adsett.
Hineringa Whare Tipuna
In 1993 Te Huki marae complex was completed with the opening of the second Whare Tipuna - Hineringa. Originally built in the mid to late 1800's and situated at Mohaka, Hineringa was re-erected after many years of her whakairo pieces being left in the guardianship of the Keefe whanau, through to the relocation and final reconstruction at Raupunga. Renowned for her beauty and artistic value from a traditional stance, Hineringa wharenui became an icon amongst her people as her original carvings (some well over 100 years old) stood as a physical and spiritual link with the past.
3. Tragedy Strikes.
On the morning of Wednseday 11 April 2007, the people of Ngati Pahauwera awoke to tragedy. All buildings at the Raupunga Marae had been razed by fire, completely destroying the Kotahitanga dining room, ablutions and gutting both Te Huki and Hineringa meeting house beyond repair. No known cause has yet been established.
Our mission: To rebuild our marae complex
(and so the fundraising begins again...)
Thanks to: Nell Adsett, Koea Pene, Roger Aranui and Charlie Lambert for the information provided in this short history...
Page last updated 10 Feb 2008
