Hongoeka is a community in the city of Porirua in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is northwest of Plimmerton and adjacent to Hongoeka Bay. It extends from an urupā (cemetery) boundary at the end of Moana Road, to Haukōpua (commonly known as Big Bay). A residential area is situated in Hongoeka Bay itself and takes up flat land and lower hillsides. It is bordered by bush clad hills and farmland, and looks out over a broad sweep of rugged coastline towards Whitireia and Mana Island, and to the South Island beyond. Writer

Patricia Grace Patricia Frances Grace (; born 17 August 1937) is a New Zealand Māori writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. She began writing as a young adult, while working as a teacher. Her early short stories were published in magazines ...

lives in the area.

History

Hongoeka has likely been occupied by

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori '' iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its '' rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston ...

since the 1820s (possibly since the battle of Waiorua in 1824, which secured Te Rauparaha's position on Kapiti Island). Hongoeka was considered desirable for cultivation and for the abundance of kai moana (seafood) found on nearby shores. According to the Maori Land Court minutes,

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the origina ...

gave the Hongoeka lands to his older brother Watarauhi Nohorua and his wife Miriama Te Wainokenoke and her relatives of Ngāti Haumia hapu of

. The village was visited by missionary Octavius Hadfield in 1839, and by Thomas Bevan in 1844, who wrote that "climbing the long spur from above Plimmerton beneath us on the beach we saw the old-time kaingas (sic) – Hongoeka, Motuhara and Turikawera".Macmorran, Barbara, ''In view of Kapiti''. (Palmerston North: Dunmore Press Limited, 1977), 52. Some

retreated to Hongoeka after the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

. Government Official Clarke reported that on 16 August 1843, Acting Governor Shortland met with

, Rawiri Puaha and all Ngāti Toa from the

Cloudy Bay Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay is located at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, to the south of the Marlborough Sounds and north of Clifford Bay. In August 2014, the name Cloudy Bay, given by Captain Cook in 1770, was officially altered t ...

area at Hongoeka immediately after the incident. Hongoeka formed part of one of three reserves set aside “for the perpetual benefit of Ngāti Toa” (Porirua Deed 1847) following the Crown’s acquisition of Porirua in 1847. Hongoeka was gazetted as an official geographic name (locality) on 16 December 2010.Land Information New Zealand, "Hongoeka", https://web.archive.org/web/20130222120257/http://www.linz.govt.nz/placenames/consultation-decisions/a-to-z/hongoeka

Marae

The suburb features Hongoeka Marae, a meeting place for

. Its

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...

, Te Heke-mai-raro, opened in 1997.

References

{{Coord, 41, 3, 58.13, S, 174, 51, 5.55, E, display=title Suburbs of Porirua Populated places in the Wellington Region