Matahiwi is a farming community upriver from

Whanganui Whanganui, also spelt Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whanganui is ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, home to the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

known as Ngā Poutama of the

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi. The township takes its name from the bush-clad ''puke'' (hill) on the western side of the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...

, right above the local

marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

, whose name translates as "the face on the ridge" (''mata'', face; ''hiwi'', ridge).

History and culture

Early settlement

The original settlement of Ngā Poutama was across the river at Hikurangi (also known as Poutama). In the 1840s it had a population of about 200. Hikurangi was renamed in 1850 with the biblical name Karatia (Galatia), often spelled Karatea. That settlement is now deserted; the ''urupa'' (burial ground) is still known as Hikurangi. The

Kawana flour mill The Kawana flour mill near Matahiwi was built in 1854, and is the last remaining flour mill on the Whanganui River and the only remaining 1850s mill machinery in New Zealand. Wheat was an important early crop for the Whanganui District: by 1848 ...

at Matahiwi was named in honour of Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

, who had donated the millstones as a personal gift to the Ngā Poutama people. It operated for over 50 years from 1854 and was restored in 1980. Matahiwi was a way station for the

paddle steamers A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

that were the main transportation up the Whanganui River before the building of the road. The remains of the sternwheeler ''Tuhua'' that grounded in 1890 are on the far side of Moutere Island.

Modern settlement

Matahiwi is predominantly a sheep and beef farming area, much of it under management of Atihau-Whanganui Incorporation, which was established in 1970 to farm 101,000 acres of land vested into the Aotea Maori Land Council by

Whanganui Māori Whanganui Māori are the Māori ''iwi'' (tribes) and ''hapū'' (sub-tribes) of the Whanganui River area of New Zealand. They are also known as Ngāti Hau. One group of Whanganui Māori, Whanganui Iwi, includes Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi and ...

between 1902 and 1904.

Marae

There are three

in the Matahiwi area. Maranganui Marae and Tuarua meeting house ar affiliated with Ngāti Tuera. Matahiwi or Ohotu Marae and Tānewai meeting house are affiliated with Ngā Poutama and Ngāti Tānewai. Waitahupārae Marae and Waitahupārae meeting house are affiliated with Ngāti Patutokotoko. The present-day Matahiwi or Ohotu Marae was established by Maehe Ranginui in 1902. His daughter Te Kehu, noting its similarity to the one they had left behind in Karatia, shed tears (''wai'') in the presence of her husband (''tāne'') Nikorima; the wharepuni (sleeping house) is thus known as Tānewai (a name also linked with the founder of Hikurangi).

References

External links

Matahiwi Marae website
{{Whanganui Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Settlements on the Whanganui River Whanganui District