Treaty Grounds first in new category

Waitangi is the first site in the country to be included in a new category of historic place, or wahi tupuna. Photo / Waitangi Tribunal

Northland's historic Waitangi Treaty Grounds is the first place in New Zealand to be listed under a new heritage category.

The Waitangi Treaty Grounds were this week listed by Heritage New Zealand, formerly the Historic Places Trust, as a wahi tupuna (ancestral place).

It has long been possible to register historic sites as wahi tapu (sacred places) but a new law passed last year also makes provision for wahi tupuna. The new category is for sites which are not tapu in the traditional or spiritual sense but still have great significance to Maori, often due to ancestral connections.

Heritage New Zealand kaihautu Te Kenehi Teira said ancestral associations with Waitangi began with Maikuku, a puhi (virgin of high rank) so tapu she was confined in a Waitangi shoreline cave and guarded by a taniwha. Many Ngapuhi today claim descent from Maikuku and her husband Hua. In the first half of the 19th century Ngapuhi rangatira were among the first to welcome Pakeha missionaries and traders.

Two gatherings of tupuna at Waitangi had a profound impact on New Zealand history.

The first was in 1835, when northern rangatira gathered to sign He Whakaputanga (the Declaration of Independence), the second event the signing of Te Tiriti (the Treaty of Waitangi) in 1840.

Mr Teira said Waitangi had always been what Ngapuhi described as tau rangatira, a place where inter-hapu relationships and alliances were discussed.

Waitangi National Trust chief executive Greg McManus said the trust was "hugely honoured" that Waitangi had been recognised as New Zealand's first wahi tupuna.

The new designation does not give Waitangi any extra protection.

It does, however, formally acknowledge those ancestral connections and values of particular importance to Maori.