Poverty Bay ( Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of

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 ...

's North Island to the north of

Hawke Bay Hawke Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui), formerly named ''Hawke's Bay'', is a large bay on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, surrounded by the Hawke's Bay region. It stretches from Māhia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnap ...

. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the northeast. The city of Gisborne is located on the northern shore of the bay and the small settlement of

Muriwai Muriwai, also called Muriwai Beach, is a coastal community on the west coast of the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. The black-sand surf beach and surrounding area is a popular recreational area for Aucklanders. The Muriwai ...

is located at the bay's southern end. The name is often used by extension to refer to the entire area surrounding the city of Gisborne. Poverty Bay is the home of the Māori

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, ...

(tribes) Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki,

Rongowhakaata Rongowhakaata is a Māori '' iwi'' of the Gisborne region of New Zealand. Hapū and marae There are three primary ''hapū'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngati Kaipoho, Ngai Tawhiri and Ngati Maru. Ngāti Kaipoho Ngāti Kaipoho descend f ...

and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri.

History

The first European known to have set foot in New Zealand, Captain James Cook of , did so here on 7 October 1769 (at which time it was known as Teoneroa). This first meeting led to the death of Te Maro during a skirmish with the crew. Although Cook was able to obtain some herbs to ward off

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

, he was unable to gain many of the provisions he and his crew needed at the bay, and for this reason gave it the name ''Poverty Bay''. Cook's first choice of name for the inlet, before the conflict, had been ''Endeavour Bay'', as a memorial of the ship's first landing place in New Zealand. In February 2019, the name of the bay was officially gazetted as Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay by the

New Zealand Geographic Board The New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa (NZGB) was established by the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 1946, which has since been replaced by the New Zealand Geographic Board (Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa) Act 2008. Althoug ...

. Bay whaling stations operated in the bay during the 19th century. In 1868,

Te Kooti Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki (c. 1832–1893) was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatū religion and guerrilla fighter. While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Cha ...

, a Māori rebel leader, and Hauhau followers were incarcerated without trial in the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

. Te Kooti and 300 mostly Hauhau warriors overcome the crew of the schooner ''Rifleman'' and escaped, with their women and children, from the Chatham Islands to Poverty Bay. They landed at Whareongaonga Bay, near Young Nick's Head. From there, he ventured inland to wage guerilla war on the armed constabulary and sympathetic Maori for several years, as well as several raids on settlers and antipathetic Maori villages. On 10 November 1868, Te Kooti and his followers attacked the township of Matawhero on the outskirts of Gisborne. Some 54 people were slaughtered, including women and children. The dead included 22 local Māori as well as European settlers.

Geography

The bay is fed by the Waipaoa River, whose catchment is – large enough for individual storms and events to have a small impact on the sedimentary outflow. The river's alluvial buffering is also minimal, and 95% of sediments are trapped by subduction-related anticlines on the bay's seaward flank. This has led to Poverty Bay becoming a case area for sedimentary studies. The sediments of the bay provide records of changes brought about by the onset of the ENSO, colonisation of New Zealand by Polynesians (and associated deforestation), subsequent deforestation by westerners, and the Taupo eruption. Poverty Bay is one of the more fertile areas of New Zealand and famous for its Chardonnay, fruit, vegetables and avocados, with abundant sunshine and fertile

alluvial soil Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

References

{{Coord, 38, 42, S, 177, 58, E, region:NZ_type:waterbody, display=title Bays of the Gisborne District Whaling stations in New Zealand