A deceased sperm whale at Paraparaumu Beach in January 2013. Photo / David Haxton
Weekly column by Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan.
As the light cracks the darkness at 6am, the karakia will resonate, calling old memories to shape and claim an older hidden story. One that knows the land where it meets the sea. In the brooding presence of Kāpiti Island which speaks a language of no words.
Maclean Park at Paraparumu Beach is tomokanga for the three local iwi.
Tomokanga translated means point of initiation or entrance. For the peoples of Ngati Toa Rangatira, Te Atiawa ki Whakarongotai and Nga Hapu o Ōtaki this is where they first landed to establish their authority.
A gateway from the sea into the land. The extensive pa site fed by the Tikotu Stream and bordered by the sea and wetlands was called Te Uruhi. At the crack of dawn sometime this week the karakia wordsmiths from the three tribes will call the spiritual memories embedded in the whenua.
While I do not know the knowledge of how this is done in this cultural context, I know from my own Dravidian people how mantras are recited to bring back into life once forgotten memories and actions.
The need to resolve old conflicts and breathe new life into positive beginnings. The whenua-clearing ceremony this week will precede the first physical ground breaking earthworks initiated for the building of the Te Uruhi Gateway.
One of the largest Māori radio stations, Waatea News, noted that " ... it will be a place to tell the stories of the various iwi of the lower North Island, not just Kāpiti, as well as funnel visitors to the island and other parts of the region."
While many know the project as The Gateway to Kāpiti Island, this tends to frame its importance more as a commercial investment. While the commercial imperative is an important consideration it cannot override the historical and cultural importance of Te Uruhi to local iwi.
In fact, as well-known to the New Zealand tourism sector, it's the Māori stories and cultural context that turbo charges the local and international tourism products. The consultants designing the Kāpiti Destination Strategy have highlighted as much in our local context.
Consider the story of Kahe Te Rau-o-te-tangi, the woman who swam 11km from Kāpiti Island to the Te Uruhi Pa in 1824 to warn her people of an invading tribe from the south.
This incredible Amazonian woman carried out this amazing feat while carrying her baby daughter strapped on her back. She went on to become one of only five women who signed the Treaty of Waitangi.
Her inspirational and mythical stature is celebrated by school children at Kena Kena Primary School and more recently, in 2019 by Pāekakariki Primary School via murals at Pāekakariki Railway Station and a solo piano piece by NZ composer Michael Norris.
It's a shame that the Arts Panel failed to back a public art project supported by a wide range including the Paraparaumu Raumati Community Board.
The submission included the potential for a yearly Kahe commemoration swim attracting women from across Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the Te Uruhi project still has the potential opportunity to include this as part of its storytelling narrative.
The deep-seated link between the old pa site and local iwi memories of it has been kept alive by other memorable milestones.
In 2013 a sperm whale stranded at exactly the site by the current Kāpiti Boating Club. Cultural protocols established by two Māori woman, whale specialist Ramari Stewart and the late Tungia Baker, following the stranding of three whales along Pāekakariki were used in local iwi working with DoC and KCDC.
Hundreds watched the cultural harvest. As iwi removed the whale's jawbone and teeth the whale was given the name Te Uruhi in memory of the pa site. It reflects on the connection of the old ways where the life of indigenous people was intrinsically wedded to the natural environment.
Te Uruhi should be seen, appreciated and celebrated as an iconic symbol on the need to return to sustainable values.
As the karakia reverberates through the crack of dawn there is no doubt it will resonate other stories known only to local iwi.