Ko Te Hokowhitu a Tū te Marae
Ngāti Hokopū websites
Ngāti Hokopū/Kōpū
Te Whare o Toroa
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Happenings
Ngā whakaahua
History
Na Walter Wharewera circa 1995
Whenua
Te Hokowhitu a Tū Marae was formerly known as Te Marae o Ngāti Hokopū ki Te Rāhui. The legal description of the land is 2883C No.1 Parish of Rangitaiki with an area of 0.3.37
Road and the land was given as a Marae by three sisters.
– Maria Haruru (nee Patara) mother of Te Keepa Tawhio had 11.77778 shares
– Miria Kitewera (nee Patara) Merrit family had 24.44444 shares
– Ema Kaperiere (nee Patara) Wharewera family had 34.56944 shares.
Previous to World War 1 the land was leased by european and when the leases expired Ngāti Hokopū owners returned to occupy their tribal lands. The only bugbear was that the tūpāpaku had to be ferried across the Whakatane River, thence to Te Whare o Toroa for the tangihanga. To avoid such inconveniences with tangihanga and other functions a suggestions was made by
Te Whare o Toroa section of Ngāti Hokopū to build a marae west of the Whakatane River. The marae was then established and was known as Te Marae o Ngāti Hokopū ki Te Rāhui.
Buildings
The aforementioned land was donated and the marae set up. The chief builder was Riini Hetaraka and a wharenui and wharekai were built. The wharenui was built during World War 1 and was erected as a memorial to the soldiers of that period and was named Te Hokowhitu a Tū and as a memorial the marae was not carved or decorated and so it remains to this day.
The wharekai which was not named was rebuilt during 1937-1939 and the mini opening took place on Christmas day 1939 in the form of a farewell to the boys who were to join the Māori Batallion on the 26th January 1940. The principal building of this period was Haenga Pirini who with Te Pakitua Wharewera was kaiwhakaako in the fund raising of the kitchen, butchering and the mysteries of setting up a hangi.
There were 15 would-be soldiers present of which 12 were to serve overseas.
In 1985 toilets and showers were built and connected to the Borough water supply and sewerage system. A cyclone in 1990 unroofed the wharekai and re-roofing of both the wharekai and wharenui and other general improvements/repairs were made under the chairmanship of Henry Sullivan son-in-law of the late Pakira Keepa.
Marae Reservation
In 1945 the marae, in order to comply with subsidy application requirements, was
gazetted as a Maori Reservation under the Chairmanship of Te Keepa Tawhio and the original
trustees of the marae approved by the Maori Land Court were:
Toihau Wharewera
Tamaiarohi Wharewera
James Merritt
Te Te Simpson
Hurinui Lawson
Wepiha Stewart
Haenga Pirini
Rapata Karaka
John Keepa
Rangi Kingi
Waretini Wharewera
Pakira Keepa
The marae was gazetted as a Maori Reserve in 1949 with trustees added to replace those deceased.
Land improvements
The marae land and roadway which was given by 3 Patara kuia was always subject to flooding making access to the marae very difficult. To overcome the problem one load per day of rotten rock from the Whakatane Heads and shingle and gravel from Raupo … was carted by a 4 wheeled wagon which was pulled by a team of 4 horses. This was done until Haenga Pirini acquired a Ford truck which made the job much easier and faster.
Tribal committees
The marae was originally represented by the Ngati Awa Tribunal Executive by Hurinui Lawson and Wally Wharewera as the chairman and secretary of the Marae Committee. Later the marae was re-presented by Pakira Keepa and Wally Wharewera on Te Ngāti Hokopū Tribunal Committee when the Wairaka and the Te Hokowhitu a Tū Tribunal Committees were amalgamated under a direction from the Maori Affairs to decrease the number of Tribal Committees.
Other history
The wharenui has been used by the Roman Catholic, Ringatu, Church of England Churches and also extensively used by the Whanau a Apanui as their headquarters when on maize plucking contracts during the Depression of the 1920-1930s.
A happy occasion for the marae was the double wedding of two sisters (Doherty sisters) who also celebrated their silver wedding anniversaries on the marae.
On the sad side were all our tangihanga which included two lka Huirua. Haere nga mate.
Video – Te Hokowhitu a Tū and the pressures of industry
Images courtesy of Whites Aviation and Retrolens
Marae Committee.
responsible for the day to day adminstration of the marae
Treasurer
Secretary
Bookings
Vice Chair
Hapū Representative
Trustees.
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Trustee
Jackie Wharewera
Chairman