Mount Smart ( or ; officially Rarotonga / Mount Smart) is one of the volcanoes and Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountain) in the

Auckland volcanic field The Auckland volcanic field is an area of monogenetic volcanoes covered by much of the metropolitan area of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, located in the North Island. The approximately 53 volcanoes in the field have produced a divers ...

. A century of quarrying removed almost all the 87 meter

scoria cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, conical landform of loose pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are formed by explosive eruptions or l ...

along with extensive terracing excavated by

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 ...

. The former quarry is now the site of

Mount Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...

Geography and history

The volcano erupted around 20,000 years ago. The scoria cone was formerly 87 metres high with a small crater (around 57 m higher than the surrounding land). Lava flowed about 300 hectares from the eruption, reaching the

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burnett ...

Māngere Māngere () is a major suburb in South Auckland, New Zealand, located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau, Manukau City Centre and south of the Auckland CBD, Auckland city centre. ...

. It was the site of defensive Māori

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

built on extensive excavated terracing. The name Rarotonga means "the lower south" and was brought from

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

. Rarotonga is where Rakataura, a

tohunga In the culture of the Māori people, Māori of New Zealand, a tohunga (tōhuka in Southern Māori dialect) is an expert practitioner of any skill or art, either religious or otherwise. Tohunga include expert priests, healers, navigators, carvers, ...

of the ''

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

'' waka, first settled in Aotearoa. After a period of time, Rakataura decided to travel south with his wife Kahukeke, who died during the journey. Te Ipu kura a Maki means "the red bowl of Maki". Rarotonga was renamed Mount Smart by European settlers after Henry Dalton Smart, a lieutenant in the mounted police in the 1840s. During 1865 to the 1960s Mount Smart was mostly quarried away. Lower southern and eastern slopes remain and were planted in

pōhutukawa Pōhutukawa (''Metrosideros excelsa''), also known as the New Zealand Christmas tree, or iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the Myrtus, myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red (or occasionally orange, yellow o ...

during the 1940s. At the same time, the quarry was reserved, and

Mt Smart Stadium Mount Smart Stadium, currently known as Go Media Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Penrose, Auckland, New Zealand. It is the main home ground of the New Zealand Warriors of the National Rugby League a ...

was built in the 1960s. In the 2014

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

settlement between the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

and the ''Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau'' collective of 13 Auckland

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. ...

and

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 ...

(also known as the Tāmaki Collective), ownership of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga of ''Tāmaki Makaurau'' / Auckland, was vested to the collective, including the volcano officially named Rarotonga / Mount Smart. The legislation specified that the land be held in trust "for the common benefit of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland". The ''Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority'' or Tūpuna Maunga Authority (TMA) is the co-governance organisation established to administer the 14 Tūpuna Maunga. Auckland Council manages the Tūpuna Maunga under the direction of the TMA.

References

*''Volcanoes of Auckland: A Field Guide''. Hayward, B.W.; Auckland University Press, 2019, 335 pp. .

External links

Early view of unquarried Mount Smart Pa, showing Maori terracing (page 11, at top)

* ttps://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/search/searchterm/Mount%20Smart/field/all/mode/exact/conn/and Photographs of Mount Smartheld in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections. {{Auckland volcanic field Auckland volcanic field Urban forests in New Zealand