Waiariki Davis, Waipatu Marae secretary, and her brother Ngahiwi Tomoana, former Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi chairman, at Hawea Historic Park, Pakowhai, Hastings. They both used to live seasonally nearby until the land was determined to be a flood zone. Photo / Warren Buckland
Waiariki Davis, Waipatu Marae secretary, and her brother Ngahiwi Tomoana, former Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi chairman, at Hawea Historic Park, Pakowhai, Hastings. They both used to live seasonally nearby until the land was determined to be a flood zone. Photo / Warren Buckland
Embracing the Karamu Stream opposite Pakowhai Regional Park, lies land where ink, blood and water have run across in the name of politics, power and protest.
Hawea Historical Park will be a revival of those stories, done in the spirit of partnership between hapū and local government.
Ngahiwi Tomoana, formerNgāti Kahungunu chairman, has a connection to land nearby that is not only spiritual but physical.
“My sister and I used to live there seasonally every year growing kumara, swimming and fishing,” Tomoana said.
“Before the catchment board took this land for flood protection, it [Hawea historical park] used to be the centre of Kahungunu politics.”
He said a pivotal moment of Ngāti Kahungunu’s history took place on the site in the 1820s when the iwi decided in a hui to move from Heretaunga up to Mahia after being invaded by eight neighbouring iwi.
“We were the last tribe in the country to get muskets, no one bothered us before because we had the numbers and no one would dare attack us, but the musket changed the balance of power,” Tomoana said.
He said they worked and traded to buy muskets in Mahia and returned to take their land about 15 years later.
He said the last inter-tribal musket battle took place on the land about 1850.
“We protested against the people coming with muskets, we protested against the government taking all our land, we set up a Māori parliament from here and we first published our own newspaper here,” Tomoana said.
“Power, politics, publishing, protesting and peacemaking.”
He said they wanted to have pou set up around the park to tell the story of the land in te reo and English and to show radial connections of the land to the surrounding marae like Kohupātiki, Matahiwi, Ruahapia, Waipatu and Waiohiki when the park was finished.
Three feathers, a huia feather, an albatross feather, and a kōtuku/white heron feather, will stand on the top of a hill in the park when it is finished, representing the past, present and future.
“We’re trying to bring back the history and names of our ancestors.”
He said each ancestor of the three main hapū — Ngāti Hawea, Ngāti Hori, and Ngāti Hinemoa — represented mārama or understanding, mauri or lifeforce and the presence of the land through women respectively.
“We eventually decided on the name Hawea Park, because during his time and his children’s, grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s time they’ve kept the power, politics, publishing and peacemaking alive.”
Hawea Historical Park will be on land that has seen bloodshed, politics, protest and peacemaking in some of the most pivotal moments of Ngāti Kahungunu history. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council asset management group manager Chris Dolley said the park resulted from the diversion of the Karamu Stream following the development of the new Te Ara Kahikatea arterial constructed in 2017.
“The park has cultural and visual connections with the wider region with views southeast to Te Mata and Kahuranaki and glimpses to the west of Kaweka,” Dolley said.
He said the Hawea Historical Park Whenua Topu Trust — an equal partnership between local hapū, Ngāti Hawea, Ngāti Hori, and Ngāti Hinemoa who are represented through the four marae, Kohupātiki, Matahiwi, Ruahapia, and Waipatu and the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council — are responsible for ongoing development and management of the park.
“The vision is a space that captures the rich historical and cultural significance of this particular whenua as a common place for Māori, Pākehā, and visitors to enjoy and learn,” he said.
“The park plan also acknowledges the importance of the park’s biodiversity and river values (ecological and flood protection) which will add recreational opportunities for residents and visitors at the site.”
He said the regional council had completed erosion protection and armouring of the Karamu stream with a lime rock wall, and widening of the stream will be complete early next year.
A lime walkway has been installed and more native planting is planned for April.
The park is expected to be open some time next year.
