A new heritage park commemorating the first chapter in New Zealand's history as a nation of Maori and Pakeha is due to be opened in the Bay of Islands this weekend.
Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae will perform the honours at Rangihoua Heritage Park on Sunday, almost 200 years to the day since the arrival of the Reverend Samuel Marsden and his band of missionaries under the protection of Chief Ruatara.
The park is centred around Rangihoua Bay on Purerua Peninsula, about 40km northeast of Kerikeri. Rangihoua Mission Station was New Zealand's first planned European settlement, predating Kerikeri by five years and Paihia by nine.
The new park is unusual in that it brings together land owned or managed by three different bodies: the Department of Conservation (16 hectares), Ngati Torehina's Rangihoua Native Reserve Board (8ha around Ruatara's pa), and the Marsden Cross Trust Board (20ha). The trust board is made up of descendants of the first European settlers and Anglican Church representatives.
A new heritage trail will lead visitors from Rore Kahu (soaring hawk), an entranceway made from rammed earth and carbon fibre, to Marsden Cross, the site of New Zealand's first recorded Christian service, via a series of panels telling the stories of the settlement and its key players.
Department of Conservation ranger Andrew Blanshard said the new park, and the partnership between the three groups, meant the public would now get a cohesive view of the site of a key chapter in New Zealand history. It also meant the Crown and the descendants of chiefs Ruatara and Te Pahi and the first European settlers all had a say in how the park was run.
"There's not many places in the world where an indigenous group, a European settler group and the government can all sit around the table and work harmoniously together. Throw in the church as well, and it's one of those wonderful feel-good projects."
Mr Blanshard said Rangihoua was a "foot in the door" that paved the way for later European settlements. It was also the place te reo was first put into writing. Apart from the cross and memorials to the King and Hansen settler families, Mr Blanshard said there was previously nothing at the site to tell visitors about its importance or that it used to be a bustling settlement complete with school, brickworks and "ropewalk" for making rope. Three large panels will show how Rangihoua looked in 1814, the mid-1820s and 1830s.
The opening will begin with a powhiri at 10am and a formal ceremony. For information, see www.rangihouaheritage.co.nz.
An Anglican-led service at Rangihoua on Christmas Day will commemorate the 200th anniversary of New Zealand's first recorded Christian service.