Koukourarata marae on the Banks Peninsula turns 100

Koukourarata marae.

Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata on the Banks Peninsula will gather this Easter weekend to mark 100 years since their whare was opened.

Tūtehuarewa, named after a tīpuna of the people of Koukourarata, was opened in the early 1920s and has been used as a dancehall, school hall, community hall, and a space for weddings and tangihanga.

It has also sheltered the local people through wars, the Great Depression, pandemics and seen whānau come and go to urban centres. Through all of that, Elizabeth Cunningham says, Tūtehuarewa has always been a constant part of the landscape of the Port Levy area.

“As you come over this quite mountainous range and quickly get into the valley, where the coast is frequent all around, suddenly you see in between all the bushes this rather large hall-like house.

“When you come in through the harbour, and you see it from the sea, it’s even more unique. It really stands out. And in the front of our whare is the words Tūtehuarewa, which have always been there. There are very few signs that Māori lived here, but for the 100 years Tūtehuarewa is one name that stands out in this place called Port Levy or Koukourarata.”

Cunningham is the Kaitiaki Taua of Koukourarata and was born and raised in the area. Her grandfather Henry Grennell helped build the whare. She has seen the place and the marae change during her time.

“It was always a place of joy. Dancing, concerts, coming in and having a kai, sleeping in the whare, all those sorts of things. That was for everybody in the community. In my day, when we lived here and went to school here, my sister used to call it the city of 13 lights because it was so isolated.

“I’ve seen it over the last 40 years as a place to come to enjoy, to rest and to look at this wonderful scenery that we have.”

The three-day-long celebration at Tūtehuarewa will include kapa haka, games, and an exhibition of tāonga from Okains Bay and Akaroa museums.

Two books recounting the history of both Tūtehuarewa and Koukourarata will also be launched.