Waitotara Valley pā site damaged by forestry, report confirms

Potonga Neilson stands in front of a hillside that has since been logged, causing further damage to an extensive pā site. Photo / Laurel Stowell

Damage to an important Waitotara Valley pā that was excavated by archaeologists in the early 1960s occurred after pine planting and harvesting took place on the land, an investigation has found.

Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga (HNZPT) commissioned Whanganui archaeologist Michael Taylor to investigate the site after Ngaa Rauru kaumātua Potonga Neilson discovered the damage to Tarata Pā, 15km inland from Waitotara village, in May last year.

Taylor's investigation found the damage had accumulated since a pine forest was planted in the early 1990s.

It resulted from a road being put through the site, forestry work and possibly work to install power lines. It was unclear exactly what work had caused the damage.

HNZPT did not endorse planting on archaeological sites, particularly pā sites, Central Region director Jamie Jacobs said.

He has been assured the forestry manager will not replant the pā site, or other areas with the remains of pre-1900 human settlement, and he intends to confirm that by sending an archaeologist to visit.

When forestry is contemplated across an archaeological site, the landowner or forest manager must have an archaeological assessment done and follow its recommendations, he said. Those could include getting an archaeological authority if work might damage the site.

If work took place and archaeological material was disturbed, HNZPT could take further action, including prosecution, Jacobs said.

"If HNZPT believes works are not appropriate then it can decline an archaeological authority and prosecute if planting is undertaken on the site," Jacobs said.

HNZPT is grateful for information from local people such as Neilson.

Tarata Pā was excavated by Colin Smart and a team from 1960-62, when the ridgeline site was in grass and scrub. The archaeologists found 47 underground storage pits, house sites, palisades and 37 artefacts, including 21 adzes.

Neilson said graves might also have been destroyed, and the pā was an important and prosperous place.

"It was a beautiful kainga at some time. The old people used to talk about it."

Like many former settlement sites in the area, it would have been set aside as a reserve, but was later sold. He is trying to find out when that happened.

If it had been registered as a wāhi tapu site, it would have had some protection.

Neilson doesn't blame the loggers.

"They are innocent victims of history, like we all are," he said.

He's also saddened so many Waitotara reserves have been lost to his people. He has mokopuna who would like to return to their papakainga (settlements) and re-establish - but can't.

The land's owner has been contacted for comment.