Te Whaiti or Te Whāiti, formerly called Ahikereru, is a forested area in 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. Victor Luca has ...
and
Bay of Plenty Region
The Bay of Plenty Region is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region in the North Island of New Zealand. Also called just the Bay of Plenty (BOP), it is situated around the Bay of Plenty, marine bight of that same name. The bay was name ...
of New Zealand's
North Island
The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
. It is at the northern end of the Ahikereru valley –
Minginui is at the southern end.
The
Whirinaki River flows through the valley.
The area's full Māori name, ''Te Whāiti-nui-a-Toi'', translates as "the great canyon of Toi",
referring to an ancestor of this area, Toi-kai-rākau /
Toi-te-huatahi
Toi-te-huatahi, also known as Toi and Toi-kai-rākau, is a legendary Māori people, Māori ''tupuna'' (ancestor) of many Māori people, Māori iwi (tribes) from the Bay of Plenty area, including Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāi Tūhoe. The B ...
.
Albert Percy Godber took photographs of
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 ...
art and architecture in the area.
Marae
Te Whaiti is in the ''
rohe
The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several .
Background
In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...
'' (tribal area) of both
Tūhoe and
Ngāti Whare
Ngāti Whare is a Māori iwi of New Zealand. It is part of a group of tribes participating in the " treelords" Treaty of Waitangi settlement with the New Zealand government involving Central North Island forestry land and cash.
As part of the ...
.
It has three
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 ...
:
* Waikotikoti Marae and Hinenuitepo meeting house is affiliated with the 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 ...
of
Te Karaha,
Ngāti Hāmua
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.
...
,
Warahoe, and with Ngāti Whare.
* Murumurunga Marae and Wharepakau meeting house is affiliated with both iwi.
* Waireporepo Marae is a meeting ground of Ngāti Whare; it has no meeting house.
In October 2020, the Government committed $793,189 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 the Waikotikoti and Murumurunga Marae, creating 20 jobs.
Education
A school opened in Te Whaiti in 1896
and merged with Minginui Forest School in 2004. The school is now Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi, a co-educational state, Restricted Composite Special Character School.
See also
*
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 ...
*
Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park
Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park is a publicly accessible conservation park in the North Island of New Zealand. The park is centered on the town of Minginui and part of the eastern boundary flanks Te Urewera. The Whirinaki Forest is o ...
References
Whakatāne District
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region
{{BayofPlenty-geo-stub