A random New Year’s Day visit to Maungatauhoro (better known as Wenderholm to many of the multicultural New Zealanders who sought out its sandy shores, sunshine and native shade on the first day of the year) shows up again the many largely unknown stories of the past that leave their legacy - and scars - on the present. These few photos from an interpretation sign at “Wenderholm Regional Park” and Māori pou (boundary marker) hint ever so slightly at - or avoid telling of - the tussles and conflict between Māori iwi (tribes), Pākehā settlers and developers, and government intervention and plans for the area.
Wenderholm is a regional park under the control (in terms of settler government) of the Auckland Council. But these signs cannot tell the deeper story, nor can I in a brief blog, but I can point you in the direction of further insights.
There is a long gap in the ‘Māori history’ displayed on the signs below (green trail) between the 1870s (when a Ngāti Whātua rangatira Te Hemera Taukia moved his people south to near modern day Kirikiriroa (Hamilton)), 1893 when the last remaining Maori land round Puhoi was sold; and when the Maori thread is picked up again in 2004 with erection of the pou signifying Maori connection with the area - but in a very general way, with iwi logos relating to Kaipara, Te Kawerau and Ngati Manuhiri. In the signage (photos further below), there is little evidence of current close Maori connection or mana whenua over the place. Sad.
What happened in between? Why did Te Hemera move his people far south? Why did Maori sell their last bit of land in the area? There may be some clues, and certainly a deeper, more nuanced, understanding of Te Hemera Tauhia and his leadership in this 2017 thesis: “Neighbours at Puhoi River: A cross-cultural dual biography of Te Hemara Tauhia (1815-1891) and Martin Krippner (1817-1894)”, written by Anne Eddy. The abstract says it “seeks to re-construct the biographies of two relatively obscure, yet fascinating and controversial players in the history of Aotearoa New Zealand”. Two men who were initiators and leaders of neighbouring settlements: Te Hemara Tauhia (1815 – 1891), rangatira (chief) of the Te Kawerau/Ngāti Rongo hapū of the Ngāti Whātua iwi, and Martin Krippner (1817 – 1894), a former Austrian captain, and organiser of the Austrian-Bohemian settlement around Puhoi, that leaves a unique mark in the landscape and history today.
“Despite their efforts for each community, both men were accused by their own people of misusing their positions for personal gains. Te Hemara Tauhia was blamed for selling off tribal lands to cover personal debts.” However, the thesis aims to look behind the myths created around both men, and thoroughly examine “what both men did and how social, economic and political circumstances influenced their motivations and choices at that particular time.”
Worth a read, and a valuable approach to take in seeking any good understanding of Māori-Pākehā relationships and history in our land.
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