CHAPTER
2
THE LAND
Ma te wahine ka tupu ai te hanga nei , te tangata Ma te whenua ka whai oranga ai
Woman alone gives birth to mankind Land alone gives man his sustenance
The people of Ngāti Pūkeko are acknowledged as having mana whenua over the land where Whakatāne Hospital and its environs are situated . Before the arrival of European settlers , the land on which the Hospital rests and extending across the original path of the Whakatāne River to land on the western side , was known as Ōtamakaukau . Tonumoko , the father of Pūkeko , lived with his wife Te Au Kurungahe , a daughter of the Hauraki Rangatira , Tama Te Rā , at Kopeopeo Marae on the eastern side of the river . ( See map below ).
The Ngāti Tonu Iwi was established by the descendents of Tonumoko , both he and Pūkeko belonged to the Pre-European era but the original Pā sites have been destroyed . However , the main Ngāti Tonu Pā during the 19th Century was Kopeopeo , which was located about where the James Street School is today . The Chief at Kopeopeo was Mokai . In later years the Iwi name was changed to Ngāti Pūkeko . Ōtamakaukau ( a place to swim ) was the name of the fertile river flats where garden vegetables ( kai māra ) such as kumara and ( later ) potatoes were planted for use at Kopeopeo Pā . Today the area that is now on the western side of the lagoon is called Awatapu ( Sacred River ), a name that recognises a site in the river where warriors would cleanse themselves before going into battle 3 .
In the middle of the 19th Century , the Whakatāne District was visited on a regular basis by Church Missionary Society and other Church representatives including JA Wilson ( 1840 ), William Colenso ( 1843 ), Rev . Father Lampila ( 1844 ), James Preece ( 1853 ) and Rev . TC Grace ( 1868 ). Even Bishop Selwyn , the first Anglican Bishop of New Zealand , called in to Whakatāne during his highly publicised traverse , on foot , of the length and breadth of New Zealand .
‘ Tuhoe ’ map showing Kopeopeo Pā and Pupuaruhe Pā 4 .
3
Pers . comm , Te Whanau of Sidney Rangihika , a direct descendent of Te Rangatira Pūkeko , 2011
4
Elsdon Best , Tuhoe , The Children of the Mist , Volume Two , ( Thomas Avery & Sons Ltd , New Plymouth 1925 )
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