Carved wharenui gets new roof from New Plymouth council

Te Ikaroa o Maui at Manukorihi Pa in Waitara has been granted $63,360 for a new roof by New Plymouth District Council. Photo/ Craig Ashworth

One of Taranaki's only carved meeting houses has been granted $63,360 for a new roof by New Plymouth District Council.

The wharenui Te Ikaroa o Maui at Manukorihi Pā in Waitara opened in 1936 and was built to honour Sir Māui Pōmare.

The Manukorihi Pā Reserve trustees' application to the New Plymouth District Council's Marae Development fund said the current roof was old and leaking, and maintenance was no longer sustainable.

Trustee Anaru White told the council's Te Huinga Taumatua committee a new roof would ensure the wharenui was safe and warm, and that whakairo, tukutuku and kōwhaiwhai (carvings, lattice-work and painted rafters) were protected.

"In heavy rain we're starting to get a lot of leaks, we're spending a lot of money patching it up. We need a new roof to protect taonga and to keep up the manaaki of our guests."

The committee unanimously agreed to fund the new roof, which will incorporate four double-glazed vented skylights.

It also allocated $10,680 to Oākura Pā to replace an exterior wall and the roof of the wharenui Moana Kauia at Okorotua Marae.

The marae's coastal site had seen building materials rusting due to exposure to the sea air.

Moana Kauia has a number of photographs of tūpuna (ancestors) from Ngāti Tairi hapū and Taranaki iwi.

The wharenui Te Ikaroa o Maui at Manukorihi Pa in Waitara opened in 1936. Photo/ Craig Ashworth

Tā Māui Pōmare was the first Māori medical doctor and became an MP in 1911, going on to become Minister of Health in 1923.

Pōmare was also instrumental in setting up the Sim Commission, which in 1927 found the confiscation of virtually the whole of Taranaki in 1865 had been wrong as Māori were never in rebellion against the Queen.

He died in 1930.

After the arrival of Christianity, most wharenui in Taranaki were built without carved adornment, but Te Ikaroa a Māui was built with the oversight of Pōmare's fellow MP Sir Apirana Ngata, who was promoting the revival of Māori arts.