Ruatoki North is a town in the eastern
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty () is a large bight (geography), bight along the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island. It stretches from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway in the east. Called ''Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi'' (the Ocean ...
of New Zealand, just south of the small town of
Tāneatua
Tāneatua is a small town in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island, 13 kilometres south of Whakatāne. State Highway 2 passes through the town on its route between Edgecumbe and Ōpōtiki. The small settlements of Ruatoki an ...
and approximately south of the town of
Whakatāne
Whakatāne ( , ) is a town located in the Bay of Plenty Region, Bay of Plenty Region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and northeast of Rotorua. The town is situated at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. The Whakatāne Dis ...
. The
Whakatāne River
The Whakatāne River or Ōhinemataroa is a major river of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand.
It flows north from near the small town of Ruatāhuna through Te Urewera, reaching the sea through the town of Whakatāne
...
runs northwards through the Ruatoki Valley and has formed broad alluvial flats.
[ The main settlement of Ruatoki North is on the eastern side of the river.
The population of approximately 600 people are predominantly ]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 ...
of the Tūhoe iwi.[ The main economic activities in the Ruatoki Valley are dairy farming and cropping.]
History
Tūhoe people started dairy farming at Ruatoki from at least the 1890s. The first school – Ruatoki Native School – and the first post office opened at the same site on the eastern side of the Whakatāne River in 1896. In 1908 two telegraph offices opened, one at the school and known as ''Ruatoki'', and the other a little to the north at the store in the township and known as ''Ruatoki North''.
A cheese factory opened in the township in 1908. The factory burned down in the late 1920s and a new concrete factory replaced it in 1928. The factory closed in 1964 and has since been demolished.
Ruatoki was one of the main sites involved in the 2007 New Zealand police raids
The 2007 New Zealand police raids were a series of armed police raids conducted on 15 and 16 October 2007, in response to alleged paramilitary training camps in the Urewera mountain range near the town of Ruatoki. About 300 police, including m ...
, conducted under the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002
The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002 is New Zealand counter-terrorism legislation passed under the Clark-led Labour government. Enacted following the September 11 attacks in the United States, the Act was designed to better address contemporary ...
.
Culture
Marae
There are ten 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 ...
,[ which are meeting places for local Tūhoe ]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 ...
.Te Tapuwae
Te Tapuwae is a Māori cemetery at Otenuku Marae in Ruatoki, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. Ngāi Tūhoe tribal leader Takurua Tamarau was buried on marae land in 1958, and subsequently that part of the land became a cemetery for t ...
cemetery is affiliated with Ngāti Kōura
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.
...
.
* Paneteure or Kaiti Marae and Hui te Rangiora meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Rongo
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.
...
.
* Papakāinga Marae and Kōura-kino meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Kōura.
* Rewarewa Marae, including Te Rangimoaho and Kuramihirangi meeting houses, is affiliated with Te Māhurehure.
* Tauarau Marae and Rongokarae meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Rongo.
* Te Tōtara Marae and Te Puhi o Mātaatua meeting house is affiliated with Te Urewera
Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, located inland between the Bay of Plenty and Hawke Bay. Te Urewera is the ''rohe'' (historical home) of Tūhoe, a Māori i ...
.
* Waikirikiri Marae and Toi-kai-rakau meeting house is affiliated with Hāmua and Ngāti Mura
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.
...
.
* Ōwhakatoro Marae and Tā Apirana Turupa Ngata meeting house is affiliated with Ngāti Rongo.
In October 2020, the Government committed $263,775 from the Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party.
Jones' political career began 2005 New Zealand general election, in 2005 as a l ...
to upgrade Ngāhina Marae, creating 12 jobs. It also contributed $622,833 to Ōtenuku, Paneteure and two other marae; $477,707 to Tauarau marae; and $1,646,820 to Waikirikiri and 5 other marae.
Education
Local Tuhoe leaders requested a school in 1891 and the Ruatoki Native School opened on the eastern side of the Whakatāne River on 4 June 1896. It became a district high school from 1946–47 until the secondary section closed in the 1970s. In 1978 it became New Zealand's first bilingual primary school. It then became a Māori language
Māori (; endonym: 'the Māori language', commonly shortened to ) is an Eastern Polynesian languages, Eastern Polynesian language and the language of the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. The southernmost membe ...
immersion school for children up to standard two, remaining bilingual for standards three and four. On 1 September 1992 it became an area school for children up to form seven and the first official kura kaupapa
Kura may refer to:
Places
* Kura, Iran (disambiguation)
* Kura Island, Azerbaijan
* Kura, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Kano State
* Kura (South Caucasus river), a river in Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan
* Kura (Russia), a river in Ru ...
school. It is now Te Wharekura o Ruatoki
Te Wharekura o Ruatoki is a rural school in the Māori settlement of Ruatoki in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region, New Zealand, serving children in years 1 through 13. It was established as Ruatoki Native School in 1896 after a visit by Richard S ...
, a co-educational state area school that teaches Year 1 to 13 students in the Māori language.
Notable people
*Tāme Iti
Tāme Wairere Iti (born 1952) is a New Zealand Māori activist, artist, actor and social worker. Of Ngāi Tūhoe descent, Iti rose to prominence as a member of the protest group Ngā Tamatoa in 1970s Auckland, becoming a key figure of the Māori ...
(born 1952), Tūhoe activist and artist
* Kōhine Pōnika (1920–1990), Ngāti Porou and Tūhoe composer
* Hikawera Te Kurapa (1907–1985), Tūhoe tribal tohunga, horse-breaker, farmer and ringatu leader
* Te Ngahuru (died around 1823), Tūhoe leader and warrior
* Stacey Waaka, rugby player
* Arnold Manaaki Wilson (1928–2012), Tūhoe and Te Arawa artist and educator
References
Citations
Works cited
*
{{coord, 38, 8, 28.2, S, 177, 0, 22.2, E, region:NZ_scale:1000000, display=title
Whakatāne District
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region