“The point of taking these photos of significant heritage sites — some nationally significant — was that they have been modified, managed and in some cases destroyed, or their names have changed over time,” Spedding said.
“For example, Sponge Bay, or Pua-Kai-Wai, was an island quarried out of existence to help build a breakwater in Gisborne.
“Prior to Cook’s first landing, Poverty Bay was known as Tūranganui-ā-Kiwa and there was an earlier name again — Papuni — which was named by two leaders of the Takitimu waka.”
There is also a photo from Hokianga called Mangungu which Spedding said set the scene for the whole show.
“On February 12, 1840, over 70 people signed the Treaty of Waitangi here at Mangungu, which was one of the biggest signings with about 3000 people attending.
“A mission station is there now.
“Hobson attended and gave the speech saying ‘we are all one people’ and Queen Victoria would not take any land, so this is a look through Tūranganui-ā-Kiwa about whether that pledge has been honoured.
“The same journey could happen across the rohe in Wairoa.
“There is a view from Kaiti Hill in 1877 of Te Toka-a-Taiao.
“This was a rock in the Tūranganui River and a wahi tapu site, marking a boundary between northern and southern tribes.
“It is also the site of the first formal meeting between Māori and Pākehā on October 8/9, 1769.
“On the western bank, 150 warriors lined the river performing a haka. Cook came in on the eastern side of the river and waded across to the rock, which may have been 40 inches wide at the time.
“A Rongowhakaata rangatira came across to the same rock and they greeted each other with a hongi. In 1877, over 100 years later, that rock was dynamited to make it easier to get boats into the river.”
Other images in his quest of looking for the past included Young Nicks Head.
“Its earlier name was Te Kurī a Pawa — The dog of Pawa (Pāoa), who was captain of the Horouta waka.”
There are more reflections on Cook’s arrival — where he came ashore on the port and eastern side and what happened to those earlier memorial spaces.
“It highlights the impact that it has been completely compromised by the port development.”
Spedding said there was a whare wananga associated with the navigator Maia at the mouth of the Tūranganui River, named Puhi-Kai-Iti, after their arrival in Tūranganui-ā-Kiwa on board the waka Te Ikaroa a Rauru.
“They had wananga up and down the Coast.
“It has now been reimagined with Māori contemporary art.”
The photographic journey also reflects on recent Gisborne history — such as Looking for the ‘Crook Cook’ and images capturing the rejection of some 20th-century narratives.
With his trusty tripod at hand, Spedding has other black and white studies and histories in mind for his next project in a different rohe and time.
