Project will open eyes to rich slice of the past

HB Regional Council chairman Rex Graham, Ngā Ara Tīpuna project team member Brian Morris and CHB Mayor Alex Walker at 2019's Provincial Growth Fund announcement atop Pukekaihau.

In partnershipNgā Ara Tīpuna is a partnership between Tamatea Hapū, Te Taiwhenua o Tamatea and Central Hawke's Bay District Council. The project team includes Dr Roger Maaka, Brian Morris, Phillip Morris, Tipene Heperi, Jo Heperi, JB Conrad Nepe-Apatu and Kauri Te Atua-Kirikiri, and from the CHB District Council Doug Tait and Craig Ireson. A governance entity will be established to have ultimate ownership of the assets once they are created.

On Waitangi Day the public will get the chance to preview the Ngā Ara Tīpuna project, which is going to open people's eyes and minds to a rich, largely undocumented layer of the region's history.

The project is a way to showcase the network of six historic pā sites that surround Waipukurau, the most prominent and well-known of which is Pukekaihau Pā, which, encompasses Hunter Memorial Park and its surrounds.

The original question that was asked, says Brian Morris, was "What can we do to recognise that a pā stood on the site of Hunter Park? And the project was initially to answer that question.

"We could have said 'let's just put a sign up there'," says Brian.

"But that's not doing it justice. We can't isolate Pukekaihau, it's not the only pā. Pukekaihau is part of a network of pā and they are still here today. People just don't know where.

"We want to inform people so they do know these pā are here. They've always been here."

During his travels around New Zealand, Brian saw what was happening with similar projects, particularly in the Bay of Islands and Waikato.

There, story boards and other fixtures told the tales of local landmarks visually, with audio and via apps.

"We talked to the designers — specifically a Wellington-based company, Locales. They have developed many such storytelling trails including Rangihoua Heritage Park in the Bay of Islands, Ngā Tapuwae Gallipoli in Turkey, and Te Ara Wā: Journeys in the Waikato.

"We presented the ideas to the CHB District Council and they agreed to fund a concept plan."

Then in 2019 the project had a massive kick-start when parliamentary under-secretary for regional economic development Fletcher Tabuteau visited Waipukurau to stand on Pukekaihau and announce a $2.8 million boost for the project.

Now, on Waitangi Day, the public have a chance to see first-hand what will be happening. Pukekaihau Pā will be the first site to be showcased, with interactive audio and visual storyboards sited at the Waipukurau Railway Station directing visitors to the site and telling its story.

Visitors can download an app, take a walk and view the site which will present them with additional information.

It will be an attraction for visitors, Brian says, but just as important, it will be educational for local people and will fit with the CHB College local histories curriculum.

"We're offering an insight into what is here and what was here. For example, many people don't know there were two lakes in Waipukurau. Tārewa, a 2000-acre stand of bush that stretched from Waipukurau to Waipāwa, supplied timber for both towns. There was much more water here, much more bush here. There are battle sites here where people lost their lives. We are living on top of that."

The storytelling trail will take in the food-gathering places of the lakes and the bush, the waterways, the connections between people and the environment, and take note of the "long-burning fires" — the continual occupation of mana whenua in the district.

"People might say 'there is already a book on the history of Waipukurau. That has already been done.'

"And yes that perspective, the township, has been done. But before that there were a lot of things here and there are stories to be told of why the people lived here, and how they lived.

"Once this project is finished there will be something physical and visible here that people haven't seen before. People will see it and wonder what it is, why is it here and what does it mean? It will inspire curiosity, interaction and education."

Stage one of Ngā Ara Tipuna will begin in June of this year and is expected to employ up to 11 people. The Open Day on Waitangi Day, February 6, will be held at Te Taiwhenua o Tamatea, Kitchener St Waipukurau, from 10am-noon and again from 1pm-3pm, with an introduction and a tour of the Pukekaihau Pā site.