te aro pā
kōrero mō te whenua/history of the land
The Waitangi Tribunal finds that, at 1840, Māori groups with ahi ka rights within the Port Nicholson block (as extended in 1844 to the south-west coast) were:
- Te Atiawa at Te Whanganui a Tara and parts of the south-west coast.
- Taranaki and Ngāti Ruanui at Te Aro.
- Ngāti Tama at Kaiwharawhara and environs, and parts of the south-west coast.
- Ngāti Toa at Heretaunga and parts of the south-west coast
…The Te Aro Pa reserve was located around the intersection of Courtenay Place and Manners Street (near present-day Te Aro Park) and ran down to what was then the shore of Lambton Harbour (now Wakefield Street)…
(p338, wai 145, Te Whanganui a Tara me ona Takiwa: Report on the Wellington District)
…Describing Te Aro Pa as ‘a nest of immorality’, Heaphy argued that for ‘moral and sanitary reasons’ it was desirable for the sake of Māori and Pakeha alike that Māori should leave the town and that the pa land should pass into Pakeha hands...
…Given Heaphy’s willingness to approve the alienation of Te Aro and Pipitea Pā land, it is not surprising that many pā sections passed out of Māori ownership while he was commissioner. Nine Te Aro Pā lots were sold to the superintendent of Wellington in 1873 and 1874 and then conveyed to the Crown later in 1874…
(p341, wai 145, Te Whanganui a Tara me ona Takiwa: Report on the Wellington District)
Te Aro Kāinga (village) was built by the Ngāti Mutunga tribe of Taranaki in 1824. After their departure, the kāinga was split into two parts and occupied by about 35 Ngāti Ruanui iwi at the eastern end and about 93 iwi of the Ngāti Haumia and Ngāti Tupaia hapū from Taranaki at the western end. The stream close by was an important food source for Māori. It was called Waimapihi, “the stream or bathing place” of Mapihi, a local chieftainess. (source: Wellington City Libraries, website)
He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tireni 1835
“I think it’s important to see He Whakaputanga as, as in a sense a precondition to the Treaty because you can only treat, you can only enter into a treaty relationship if you have the political and constitutional and independent capacity to do so.” – Moana Jackson
(He Tohu, source: National Library of New Zealand, A pre-condition to the Treaty | He Tohu)
Te Tiriti o Waitangi, 29 April 1840 (Raukawa Moana sheet signed in Te Whanganui-a-Tara)
“The Treaty to me has never been about Treaty rights, it’s always been about the rightness that comes from people accepting their obligations to each other..” – Moana Jackson
(He Tohu, source: National Library of New Zealand, Interview with Moana Jackson | He Tohu)
