Ko Hakatere - naa Mary Ann Meha
Ko Hakatere tenei This is Hakatere
O Nga Pakihi Whakatekateka on the deceptive plains
O Waitaha of Waitaha
Ko Te Kiekie te maunga Mount Somers is the mountain
Ko Rakaia, ko Hakatere Rakaia, Ashburton
Ko Hekeao, ko Rangitata nga awa Hinds and Rangitata are the rivers
Ka whiriwhiri tatou, e pohutu nei Just as they with their many channels
Ki Te Moana-Nui-a Kiwa join together in the Pacific Ocean
No reira ra so the people who come here from
E nga hau e wha the four winds
Tatou tatou e join together as one.
The story of Hine Paaka
Excerpts from Canterbury Museum curator Roger Duff’s contribution on the Maori history of Alford Forest in Bush, Bullocks and Boulders, by William Vance, published in 1976 to celebrate the centennial of the district.
The earliest people to see the long beaches and plains of Ashburton were Rapuwai and Hawea, travellers from ancient times, before the coming of the Waitaha moa hunters, the Ngati Mamoe and the Ngai Tahu.
The moa hunters came by canoe searching for landing places, a break in the long gravel cliffs of the eastern coastline. One such landing place was at Wakanui, literally translated as ’great canoe‘, but which could also refer to the shifting river mouth.
That the hunters found moa aplenty in the area is shown by the evidence of archaeological finds at the present day settlement of Wakanui where in-ground ovens, ones, utensils and tools have been discovered. Once the moa were all hunted out the Ngai Tahu travelled through the area only to trade or visit other sub-tribes using the coastal highway.
Resting places along the coast were Ote Peke (Rakaia river mouth), Tahu o Tao (Dorie), Otu (Kyle), Takapunake (Seafield), Rerepari Wharauka (Seaview), Whakanui Hakatere (north side of the river) and Tuhina a Po (south side).
Whether coming from north or south, travelling hunting parties found this mid-point of the plains extremely bare, short of spring water and with a receding horizon which could explain the name given to the area, Nga Pakihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha (the deceptive plains of Waitaha).
Fowling parties from Kaiapoi came into the area by way of Lake Coleridge and the Rakaia Gorge while Arowhenua Maori from Te Muka northbound to to the Rakaia greenstone pass would skirt along the foothills to the Rakaia River, climb the Browning Pass through the Southern Alps, down to the Arahura and Taramakau Rivers.
The focal point for these travellers was a solitary matai tree, a survivor of the pre-Maori rainforest covering much of the Canterbury Plains, a landmark from north and south, and a rich source of bird life for the hunters. According to custom, trees that offer such guidance and sustenance for travellers are given a personal name and are declared sacred to all except the descendants of the group with the fowling rights. The last name to be given commemorated Hine Paaka, the wife of Ngai Tahu Chief Maru, whose name is perpetuated in the name given to present-day towns of Ti-Maru and O-a-Maru.
He lived in the late 1600s and was a leading figure in war and diplomacy as his tribe pushed through the Canterbury Plains from Kaikoura.
This single matai tree, for over 300 years, provided food, shelter and a landmark for generations of Maori hunters and many a chief took mana (strength) from its powerful source. Such a tree gained great respect from early European settlers who called it the Singletree. (Ends excerpts).
Early pioneers travelling across country to the high country stations used the name Hakatere for the river some time before a ferry and accommodation house was established where the present Ashburton Bridge now is.
[The Canterbury association secured from the New Zealand Company the rights to a block of land extending from the Waipara River in the north to the Hakatere. Thus half of what became Ashburton County fell into this Canterbury block, the rest still controlled by the New Zealand Government. Captain Thomas, the association’s agent renamed the boundary river ‘Ashburton’ in honour of Lord Ashburton, a member of the association. The Rakaia became Cholomondeley, Hekeao Hinds and Rangitata Alford.] WH Scotter’s History of Ashburton.
In 1899 the Ashburton naturalist W W Smith described the Singletree as a “solitary grand old black pine” but in the 1930s W A Taylor described it as” a dead skeleton”. It was spared the bushman’s axe and remained undisturbed until a nor-west storm toppled it in 1945.
In 1976 Alford Forest resident Mr George Rountree suggested at a Hakatere Marae meeting that the Maori people take part in the planting of another matai tree to replace the ancient Singletree, in remembrance of the tree of Hine Paaka and to commemorate the centennial of European settlement in the Alford Forest - Bushside - Springburn area.
As the large crowd gathered for the tapu-lifting and tree-planting ceremony, a fine, needle-like rain began to fall. As the prayers ascended, the veil of rain, hovering and whirling around the tapu area, hid the brooding hills and the deceptive plains and cloaked the tapu site with a tomb-like silence. Just as the final rites were fulfilled a chill wind blew toward the hills, a softer rain fell and the tapu was lifted.
The final act in the possibly 1000-year history of the tree, Hine Paaka, was the carving of a poutoko manawa to mark the site and to protect the young matai.
The carving depicted Tane Mahuta cradling a young tree in his left hand, the roots coming from his hip and the branches stretching to his right shoulder. His feet are planted in Papatuanuku (mother earth) who is joined to Rangi (sky father).
Tane Mahuta (guardian of the forest) gazes out toward the mountains symbolising the love and reverence Maori have for the bush, hills, forest and land.
NOTE: Unfortunately the carved poumanawa was vandalised several years after its erection behind a stone wall at the centennial site on the Inland Scenic Route near Alford Forest. The remains were gathered up by Hakatere Maori Women’s Welfare League members and after karakia and waiata were buried in a secret place.
Janet Benfell, Hakatere Marae member. Story revised 2006.
O Nga Pakihi Whakatekateka on the deceptive plains
O Waitaha of Waitaha
Ko Te Kiekie te maunga Mount Somers is the mountain
Ko Rakaia, ko Hakatere Rakaia, Ashburton
Ko Hekeao, ko Rangitata nga awa Hinds and Rangitata are the rivers
Ka whiriwhiri tatou, e pohutu nei Just as they with their many channels
Ki Te Moana-Nui-a Kiwa join together in the Pacific Ocean
No reira ra so the people who come here from
E nga hau e wha the four winds
Tatou tatou e join together as one.
The story of Hine Paaka
Excerpts from Canterbury Museum curator Roger Duff’s contribution on the Maori history of Alford Forest in Bush, Bullocks and Boulders, by William Vance, published in 1976 to celebrate the centennial of the district.
The earliest people to see the long beaches and plains of Ashburton were Rapuwai and Hawea, travellers from ancient times, before the coming of the Waitaha moa hunters, the Ngati Mamoe and the Ngai Tahu.
The moa hunters came by canoe searching for landing places, a break in the long gravel cliffs of the eastern coastline. One such landing place was at Wakanui, literally translated as ’great canoe‘, but which could also refer to the shifting river mouth.
That the hunters found moa aplenty in the area is shown by the evidence of archaeological finds at the present day settlement of Wakanui where in-ground ovens, ones, utensils and tools have been discovered. Once the moa were all hunted out the Ngai Tahu travelled through the area only to trade or visit other sub-tribes using the coastal highway.
Resting places along the coast were Ote Peke (Rakaia river mouth), Tahu o Tao (Dorie), Otu (Kyle), Takapunake (Seafield), Rerepari Wharauka (Seaview), Whakanui Hakatere (north side of the river) and Tuhina a Po (south side).
Whether coming from north or south, travelling hunting parties found this mid-point of the plains extremely bare, short of spring water and with a receding horizon which could explain the name given to the area, Nga Pakihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha (the deceptive plains of Waitaha).
Fowling parties from Kaiapoi came into the area by way of Lake Coleridge and the Rakaia Gorge while Arowhenua Maori from Te Muka northbound to to the Rakaia greenstone pass would skirt along the foothills to the Rakaia River, climb the Browning Pass through the Southern Alps, down to the Arahura and Taramakau Rivers.
The focal point for these travellers was a solitary matai tree, a survivor of the pre-Maori rainforest covering much of the Canterbury Plains, a landmark from north and south, and a rich source of bird life for the hunters. According to custom, trees that offer such guidance and sustenance for travellers are given a personal name and are declared sacred to all except the descendants of the group with the fowling rights. The last name to be given commemorated Hine Paaka, the wife of Ngai Tahu Chief Maru, whose name is perpetuated in the name given to present-day towns of Ti-Maru and O-a-Maru.
He lived in the late 1600s and was a leading figure in war and diplomacy as his tribe pushed through the Canterbury Plains from Kaikoura.
This single matai tree, for over 300 years, provided food, shelter and a landmark for generations of Maori hunters and many a chief took mana (strength) from its powerful source. Such a tree gained great respect from early European settlers who called it the Singletree. (Ends excerpts).
Early pioneers travelling across country to the high country stations used the name Hakatere for the river some time before a ferry and accommodation house was established where the present Ashburton Bridge now is.
[The Canterbury association secured from the New Zealand Company the rights to a block of land extending from the Waipara River in the north to the Hakatere. Thus half of what became Ashburton County fell into this Canterbury block, the rest still controlled by the New Zealand Government. Captain Thomas, the association’s agent renamed the boundary river ‘Ashburton’ in honour of Lord Ashburton, a member of the association. The Rakaia became Cholomondeley, Hekeao Hinds and Rangitata Alford.] WH Scotter’s History of Ashburton.
In 1899 the Ashburton naturalist W W Smith described the Singletree as a “solitary grand old black pine” but in the 1930s W A Taylor described it as” a dead skeleton”. It was spared the bushman’s axe and remained undisturbed until a nor-west storm toppled it in 1945.
In 1976 Alford Forest resident Mr George Rountree suggested at a Hakatere Marae meeting that the Maori people take part in the planting of another matai tree to replace the ancient Singletree, in remembrance of the tree of Hine Paaka and to commemorate the centennial of European settlement in the Alford Forest - Bushside - Springburn area.
As the large crowd gathered for the tapu-lifting and tree-planting ceremony, a fine, needle-like rain began to fall. As the prayers ascended, the veil of rain, hovering and whirling around the tapu area, hid the brooding hills and the deceptive plains and cloaked the tapu site with a tomb-like silence. Just as the final rites were fulfilled a chill wind blew toward the hills, a softer rain fell and the tapu was lifted.
The final act in the possibly 1000-year history of the tree, Hine Paaka, was the carving of a poutoko manawa to mark the site and to protect the young matai.
The carving depicted Tane Mahuta cradling a young tree in his left hand, the roots coming from his hip and the branches stretching to his right shoulder. His feet are planted in Papatuanuku (mother earth) who is joined to Rangi (sky father).
Tane Mahuta (guardian of the forest) gazes out toward the mountains symbolising the love and reverence Maori have for the bush, hills, forest and land.
NOTE: Unfortunately the carved poumanawa was vandalised several years after its erection behind a stone wall at the centennial site on the Inland Scenic Route near Alford Forest. The remains were gathered up by Hakatere Maori Women’s Welfare League members and after karakia and waiata were buried in a secret place.
Janet Benfell, Hakatere Marae member. Story revised 2006.
