Ruatāhuna is a small town in the remote country of
Te Urewera
Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park.
Te Urewera is ...
, in the northeast 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 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
's
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...
. It is 90 kilometres directly west of
Gisborne, and 18 kilometres northwest of
Lake Waikaremoana
Lake Waikaremoana is located in Te Urewera in the North Island of New Zealand, 60 kilometres northwest of Wairoa and 80 kilometres west-southwest of Gisborne. It covers an area of . From the Maori Waikaremoana translates as 'sea of rippling wa ...
. By road, it is 50 kilometres south-east of
Murupara
Murupara is a town located in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is situated in an isolated part of the region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera protected area, on the banks of ...
, and 110 kilometres north-west of
Wairoa
Wairoa is a town and territorial authority district in New Zealand's North Island. The town is the northernmost in the Hawke's Bay region, and is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of ...
. It is on the upper reaches of the
Whakatāne River, and surrounded on three sides by the Te Urewera protected area, formerly the
Te Urewera National Park
Te Urewera National Park was a national park near the east coast of New Zealand's North Island, established as such in 1954 and disestablished in 2014, when it was replaced by a new legal entity and protected area named ''Te Urewera''. The p ...
. The road that runs from Murupara through Ruatahuna to
Āniwaniwa on Lake Waikaremoana, a large part of which is unsealed, used to be designated as part of
State Highway 38. It is a subdivision of the Galatea-Murupara ward of the
Whakatāne District
Whakatāne District is a territorial authority district on the North Island of New Zealand. The Whakatāne District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Whakatāne. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Judy Turner has b ...
.
History
The area was the site of much action during the
New Zealand Wars
The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the ...
of the 1860s and 1870s. From 1870 to 1888, one of the largest
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'' ( ...
ever built, Te Whai-a-te-Motu, was constructed for
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 C ...
and his followers.
Marae
Ruatāhuna is within the ''
rohe
The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''.
The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...
'' (tribal area) of
Tūhoe, and has several
marae
A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term ...
affiliated with Tūhoe
hapū
In 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 and normally ope ...
:
* Kākānui (Tīpapa) marae and Kākahu Tāpiki meeting house, affiliated with
Kākahu Tāpiki.
* Mātaatua marae and Te Whai-a-te-Motu meeting house, affiliated with
Te Urewera
Te Urewera is an area of mostly forested, sparsely populated rugged hill country in the North Island of New Zealand, a large part of which is within a protected area designated in 2014, that was formerly Te Urewera National Park.
Te Urewera is ...
.
* Ōhāua or Ōhāua te Rangi marae and Te Poho-o-Pōtiki meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāti Rongo.
* Ōpūtao marae and Te Ngāwari meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāti Tāwhaki.
* Ōtekura marae and Te Ōhāki meeting house, affiliated with
Tamakaimoana.
* Pāpueru marae and Te Whatu o Te Kanohi meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāti Tāwhaki.
* Tātāhoata marae and Te Tapuae meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāi Te Riu.
* Te Umuroa marae and Te Poho-o-Parahaki meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāti Manunui
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, ...
.
* Uwhiārae marae and Te Paena meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāi Te Paena
Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...
.
* Te Wai-iti marae and Te Poho o Kurī Kino meeting house, affiliated with
Ngāti Kurī Kino.
In October 2020, the Government committed $3,996,258 from the
Provincial Growth Fund
Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014.
Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour G ...
to upgrade Kākānui, Mātaatua, Ōhāua, Pāpueru, Tātāhoata, Uwhiārae, Te Wai-iti marae, creating 79 jobs.
Education
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Huiarau is a co-educational state
Māori language immersion area school for Year 1 to 13 students,
with a roll of as of .
References
Whakatane District
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region
{{BayofPlenty-geo-stub