Ko Rangitaiki toku Awa

Ko Rangitaiki toku Awa This page has been created to promote and encourage environmental education and the protection of th

📸 Aerial view of the Matahina township, powerhouse, dam and hydro lake on the Rangataiki River. Photograph taken 4 May 1...
10/12/2023

📸 Aerial view of the Matahina township, powerhouse, dam and hydro lake on the Rangataiki River.

Photograph taken 4 May 1967 1958 by Leo White.

“He waka eke noa” Lisa Carrington - Athlete exploring Lake Matahina.
04/02/2022

“He waka eke noa”

Lisa Carrington - Athlete exploring Lake Matahina.

Me mâtau ki te whetü, i mua i tekökiri o te harae.You don't have to know every detail and wecan remain flexible in our a...
13/01/2022

Me mâtau ki te whetü, i mua i te
kökiri o te harae.

You don't have to know every detail and we
can remain flexible in our approach but having a plan will clarify your vision, it will guide you, it will redirect you until you reach your goal destination. Kia pai to rã e te iwi 💫

Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au 🌱
25/08/2021

Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au 🌱

29/04/2021

He Kai Kei Aku Ringa
Meet Ebony and her whanau! Ebony has been planting and harvesting kumara in the small town of Te Teko her whole life. The practice from start to finish, has been passed down through her whānau for generations, as have many other life lessons.

Ebony reflects on ‘he kai kei aku ringa’ as attaining the knowledge and experience to produce sustenance from the land. Her vision is an intergenerational one. In passing on the knowledge and Tikanga of food growing, gathering, hunting, and harvesting to her tamariki, Ebony knows that she is ensuring the continuation of her whakapapa.

Beauty day for it 👍
27/12/2020

Beauty day for it 👍

Aniwaniwa Falls 💚
27/12/2020

Aniwaniwa Falls 💚

Ko Ngāti Awa te Iwi 🌿The Rangitāiki River has been a treasured taonga and resource for Ngāti Awa. Traditionally the Rang...
03/11/2020

Ko Ngāti Awa te Iwi 🌿

The Rangitāiki River has been a treasured taonga and resource for Ngāti Awa.

Traditionally the Rangitāiki River and, in times past, the associated swamp area have been a source of food as well as a communication waterway.

Te Mārangaranga were one group that held primacy over the swamp during the pre‐migration period. They were principally located in the Rangitāiki valleys of Te Houhi
and Te Whāiti.

Upon the arrival of the waka Mātaatua this group inter‐married with the new arrivals. In time the Warahoe hapū of Ngāti Awa, also descendants of Te Mārangaranga, occupied the lands along the Rangitāiki River.

Warahoe was also the old name of the Ōrini Stream that connects the Rangitāiki and Whakatāne Rivers. The resources of the Rangitāiki River and swamp area were shared by the hapū of Ngāti Awa living in the area.

The Ngāti Awa hapū of Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Hokopū, and Te Patutātahi occupied the eastern bank of the Rangitāiki River. Te Pahipoto, Ngā Maihi, and Te Patutātahi occupied the upper (southern) portion of the river around Te Teko.

Te Tāwera, Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri II, and Ngāti Hikakino occupied the western edge of the river. Te Patutātahi had a large grouping of hapū that included Ngāti Hinanoa, Ngāti K**a, Ngāti Hina, Ngai Tāpiki, and Te Whānau a Taiwhakaea II.

This group occupied the important central reaches of the Rangitāiki River. Te Patutātahi are today known as Ngāi Taiwhakaea II. The Rangitāiki River was an essential resource and taonga for those hapū communities from the Ngātamawahine, Pōkairoa, Pāhekeheke, and Waikōwhewhe Streams to the original outlet of the river at Mātata, where it once converged with the Tarawera River.

A number of settlements were established by the hapū of Ngāti Awa along the Rangitāiki River. Such settlements highlight the connections of Ngāti Awa with the Rangitāiki River and their occupation of the river's catchments.

One such settlement was Te Pūtere located on the coast between the Tarawera and Rangitāiki Rivers. Te Pūtere was a block of land slightly higher than the surrounding swamp area, originally inhabited by Ngāti Patuwai and later Te Patutātahi, Te Pahipoto, and Te Patuwai. Inland hapū used Te Pūtere as a fishing nohoanga allowing them access to the resources of the lower reaches of the Rangitāiki River and the sea.

Further inland along the Rangitāiki River were the Ngāti Awa settlements of Te Kupenga nd Te Teko (which remains one of the principal Ngāti Awa settlements along the river).

Kōkōhinau Marae is another important Ngāti Awa settlement located in the Te Teko area along the bank of the Rangitāiki River.
Te Pahipoto are the hapū of Kōkōhinau. Ngā Maihi, Ngāti Tamawera and Ngai Tamaoki also had villages along the river. Ngāti Hāmua also have their kāinga and marae on the banks of
the Rangitāiki River.

Ōtipa Pā, occupied at different times by Ngā Maihi, Warahoe and Ngāti Hāmua, is another Ngāti Awa kāinga located along the Rangitāiki River.

The Rangitāiki River provided the hapū of Ngāti Awa, particularly those living in pā along the river, with abundant food and material resources. Water from the river was used by Ngāti Awa to irrigate crops along the riverbanks.

Flax and raupo grew well along the river and, in times past, in the swamp ground. These provided materials for clothing, building, and trade for the Ngāti Awa hapū. Fish, eels, and birds were also in plentiful supply.

Not only did the Rangitāiki River provide the Ngāti Awa hapū with food, trade, and building materials but it also allowed easy internal movement for the hapū of Ngāti Awa from one end of the rohe to the other. It provided refuge in times of danger.

The tipuna of Ngāti Awa had considerable knowledge of whakapapa, traditional trails and tauranga waka, places for gathering kai and other taonga. They knew ways in which to use
the resources of the Rangitāiki River, the relationship of people with the river and their dependence on it, and tikanga for the proper and sustainable utilisation of resources.

All of these values remain important to the people of Ngāti Awa today. All elements of the natural environment possess a life force and all forms of life are related.

Mauri is a critical element of the spiritual relationship of Ngāti Awa whānui to the Rangitāiki River.

The Rangitāiki River has always been an integral part of the social, spiritual, and physical lifestyle of the Ngāti Awa people.

Matahina Dam 💧During the 1950s, there was a sharp increase in the demand for electricity. This problem was particularly ...
29/10/2020

Matahina Dam 💧

During the 1950s, there was a sharp increase in the demand for electricity. This problem was particularly acute in the North Island before the completion of the Cook Strait electricity cable.
The Kawerau Pulp and Paper mill created an especially high electricity demand in the Bay of Plenty region.

At the same time, the Govermnent was looking to create job opportunities in the area, especially for Maori. In 1957, the idea of building a hydro-electric dam either on the Kaituna River or on the Rangitaiki River, was put forward in 'The Report to the Combined Committee on the New Zealand Electricity Supply. The decision to go ahead with a dam on the Rangitaiki was made by the Planning Committee on Electric Power Development, in 1959.

Investigative work on the dam had already begun back in 1957. The site selected for the dam, to be known as the Matahina dam, construction work underway on the dam by 1962. The project took much longer than originally planned due to the fact that the dam site was built on a major active faultline and on very fractured, porous ignimbrite rock. These factors led to many engineering problems. The Matahina dam, still the largest earth dam in the North Island, was opened in 1967.

During the process of dam construction the Ministry of Works acted under the Public Works Act 1928. Section 107 of this Act gave them the legal right to enter Maori land for purposes of survey. An order in council, issued in 1959 under section 311 of the Act also gave them the legal right to enter Maori land. The Public Works Act 1928 allowed for Maori land to be taken for public works including roading and quarrying.

The dam was officially opened in 1967 but the Crown proclamation of public works takings did not occur until August of 1968. According to David Young, in his book Matahina: Power in the Land, the landowners were concerned that no real effort had been made by the Crown to negotiate with them before the Public Works Act 1928 was invoked.

He argues that this meant the owners had to accept the level of compensation they
were offered through the Act, without any opportunity to negotiate a better deal. The dam also disrupted the migration of eels and thereby disrupted the traditional fishing on the Rangitaiki.

Other species such as trout and freshwater mussels were also affected by the construction of the
dam.

Hine‐i‐Whāroa 🐍Hine‐i‐Whāroa was a tipuna in the form of a white eel that lived in the Rangitāiki River. Hine‐i‐Whāroa w...
17/09/2020

Hine‐i‐Whāroa 🐍

Hine‐i‐Whāroa was a tipuna in the form of a white eel that lived in the Rangitāiki River. Hine‐i‐Whāroa was the kaitiaki of all the other eels that lived in the river.

Hine‐i‐Whāroa became the kaitiaki that limited the number of eels that could be caught by the people thereby ensuring that the fishery would survive.

No matter how hard the people tried to catch Hine‐i‐Whāroa to clear the way so they would have unrestricted access to all eels,
they could never do so.

'Te Waikoropupu o Kaimanawa' - the original name of our Rangitāiki. 💚💙The name originates from ancient times when the ma...
16/09/2020

'Te Waikoropupu o Kaimanawa' - the original name of our Rangitāiki. 💚💙

The name originates from ancient times when the maunga of the central north island were at war with one another.

One of the battles fought was for the honor of Ngaruahoe and Pihanga. Tongariro (the reigning champion) and Kaimanawa became embattled and fought ferociously.

In the end, Kaimanawa was defeated and Tongariro emerged as the victor. Kaimanawa however was noted to have had put up a strong defense and the energy and perspiration expended during the battle became known as ‘Te Waikoropupu o Kaimanawa’ in recognition of this. Today, the Kaimanawa ranges form part of the North Island Volcanic Plateau from where the headwaters of the Rangitāiki River begin to flow.

When the Mataatua waka landed here, Toroa (Captain of the Mataatua waka) set out to explore the local surroundings when he saw a co**se of a Marangaranga (the earlier inhabitants ) floating in the river, he named the awa ‘Te Rangitāiki nui a Tia’ or ‘Te Rangitāiki nui a Toroa’ - "Rangi" meaning the "day" and "Tāiki" meaning "co**se or skeleton".

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Ko te Awa ko au, ko au te Awa

E ora ana te mauri o te awa o Rangitaiki, e manaakitia ana e te iwi, e tiakina ana mo nga whakatipuranga o muri mai. Tihei Mauri Ora The Rangitaiki River has its source on the northeastern slopes of the Ahimanawa Range. It flows north-north-west for 15 miles, crossing the Taupo-Napier Highway at Rangitaiki, then north-east for 40 miles to Waiohau, and then generally north for 25 miles to the Bay of Plenty at Thornton. It flows along a series of fault-angle valleys which separate the Kaingaroa Plateau on the west from the North Island axial ranges on the east. Important tributaries are the Otamatea, Wheao, and Whirinaki Rivers, and on it lie the towns of Murupara, Te Teko, and Edgecumbe.

The intention of this page is to share, educate and promote the future protection of our awa. Got something you'd like to share?

Email: [email protected]