Maori History
Ancient stories tell the origins of southern Maori, with the waka of Aoraki becoming Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island), and its sternpost, Te Taurapa a Te Waka o Aoraki becoming Bluff Hill (also known as Motupohue). The Maui traditions are also told in the south, with Maui arriving in his waka Maahunui, and throwing out the anchor Te Puka o Te Waka a Maui (Rakiura). Maui's achievements are recognised in place names in the south, including Omaui near Bluff, and Te Tapuwae o Maui and Te Rereka o Maui in Fiordland (Maui's footstep and Maui's leap).
The early generations learnt about the land and its resources: stone sources were found, and stone (especially pounamu) became an important trading item. Whanau moved throughout the southern area to take advantage of seasonal resources and trade, and also for reasons of intermarriage and war. Kaika were established close to resources. Rights and resources and places were established, and traditions established which protected the manawhenua.
According to the Ngai Tahu Statutory acknowledgments in the settlement important villages along the south coast included: 'Te Wae Wae (Waiau), Taunoa (Orepuki), Kawakaputaputa (Wakapatu), Oraka (Colac bay), Aparima (Riverton named Aparima after the daughter of the noted southern rangatira Hekeia, to whom he bequeathed all of the land which his eye could see as he stood on a spot at Otaitai, just north of Riverton), Turangiteuaru, Awarua (Bluff), Te Whera, Toe Toe (mouth of the Mataura River) and Waikawa.'
In the 1830s shore based whaling was established, including a station at Aparima. Tuhawaiki established his own whaling station. Strategic intermarriage of Maori women to whalers strengthened relationships. Flax and timber as well as other commodities were traded.
1853 saw the Murihiku purchase which left Maori south of the Waitaki (excluding the Otakou Block) with only 4,630 acres, the start of a long quest by southern Maori for justice questioning the legality of the purchase as well as the inadequacy of the land reserved. The major settlements on the southern coast near modern day Riverton/Aparima in the mid nineteenth century included Pahia, Ngawhakaputaputa, Oraka and Aparima (established probably in the 1820s), although the largest settlement was on Ruapuke Island.
A reserve was set aside at Aparima but was inadequate. The Aparima reserve was the site of the main kaika and included an urupa and a tauranga waka. The majority of the reserve was later taken by the Public Works Act for a secondary school, with only the tauranga waka remaining as reserve, a source of continued grievance.
Establishment of Government Services in Riverton/Aparima
Though settled in the 1830s the Town of Riverton was not surveyed until 1858 and 1861. The Township of Riverton created by proclamation in June 1871. In 1868 land was set apart as sites for 'Government Buildings', police stations and the like in Riverton. An 1871 survey shows the reserve with building footprints shown: the customhouse, telegraph office and courthouse.
The Public Works Department took over control of the office of the Colonial Architect in 1874. Further reorganisation saw the position of Engineer-in-Chief replaced by the Chief Engineer in each island, with separately organised operations. Maintenance of public buildings, such as the courthouse, was carried out by provincial staff.
The original courthouse was burnt down on the morning of 15 March 1882. The fire was so fierce that it was only with great effort that it was prevented from spreading to the adjoining Post and Telegraph Offices.
Riverton/Aparima residents were keen for a substantial building which adequately reflected the importance of government functions to the population:
‘Why not stop patching up these rotten old wooden buildings, and let us have a suitable place for all General Government work put up. There is a fine site available, and as the Government does not insure, let us have stone or brick. As it is at present, there is the Customs-office, the Land-office, and the old Post-office. I am of opinion that they should all be pulled. So far as the Custom-house is concerned, if they don't pull it down soon, it will fall down, as it is perfectly rotten. I like retrenchment, but to be spending money in patching up old buildings is penny wise and pound foolish. I trust our Liberal member has got his eye on these obnoxious structures, and that if not he will take the hint and act upon it.'
In 1882 £800 was granted towards the new building. The Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives (AJHR) reported that the plans were in preparation in 1883. In April 1883 the tender for the courthouse contract was advertised by district engineer W.W. Dartnall with plans and specifications available for view in both Riverton/Aparima and the Public Works Department in Invercargill. Nelson-born William Whitney Dartnall (1844-1929) had a significant career as an engineer in both New Zealand and Australia. He was district engineer in both Invercargill and Nelson/Picton, and served as chief engineer in Perth, Western Australia, for sixteen years, until his retirement in 1908.
Riverton/Aparima residents were impatient when there was delay in building the replacement courthouse. In March 1883 it was announced that the contract was to be let out for tender shortly, ‘better late than never' was the correspondent's disgruntled opinion. When the plans became public the Otago Witness reported that the new brick building ought to be ‘an ornament to the town.' Work on the Riverton Courthouse was underway in 1884 as the building progress was reported in returns to the Minister of Public Works.
The citizens of Riverton/Aparima were proud of their public buildings, the hospital, post and telegraph office and courthouse. The courthouse with its ‘multifarious offices' was the place where Riverton/Aparima residents met to watch and be involved in the play out of drama which was a ‘day in court.' As the Otago Witness reported, ‘litigation is a game freely played by the western people, and court day draws a greater audience than a sale or political meeting.'
The Riverton Courthouse also provided a venue for Native (later Maori) Land Court hearings. Iwi relationship with the land is of pivotal importance and the loss of land through the Native Land Court process a source of continued grievance. From 1865 onwards, when the Native Land Court was formed, the institution was the means by which millions of acres of Maori land were transferred to the Crown and to private purchasers throughout New Zealand. The Native Land Court facilitated the individualisation of title (Maori land was held by kin groups rather than individuals), which in turn made alienation of land from Maori ownership much easier, and undermined the idea of communal ownership and the ability of Maori to make decisions about their own land. In the South Island the situation was somewhat different as the huge scale of land alienation through purchase left Ngai Tahu essentially landless, with additional land granted back through the South Island Landless Natives Act (1906). The Native Land Court then dealt with complex issues of succession as iwi struggled to deal with often inaccessible uneconomic blocks.
Native Land Court hearings at Riverton/Aparima were often a source of frustration and distress for iwi, with one suicide reported in the local newspaper as a result of disappointment because of a court judgement. One man complained that the Court had awarded Crown Grants to people who did not belong to the land: ‘Is it a likely thing that I would take the ground from my own people and give it to strangers...it was in my possession, and for seven generations before me; and Mackay [Judge Mackay] must divide it to strangers without my consent, and make roads in the map and make the place public, that I have nothing but trouble.' At times four hundred individuals attended the hearings in Riverton, with the sittings reported in the paper. The facilities which were in poor repair anyway would have struggled to support such attendance. The Native Land Court also sat at Waikouaiti and Bluff in the nineteenth century.
The building's deteriorating condition is evident in the Public Works Department records. Files from the 1920s indicate a steady programme of maintenance. The harsh weather conditions took its toll on the building, and in 1929 the assistant engineer at the Public Works Department was calling for repairs necessary to preserve the building, and described the interior as ‘dirty' and ‘generally dilapidated.' The original gas lighting was replaced by electricity in the mid 1920s, with the initial request from the assistant engineer for electric lighting connections was turned down as unnecessary expenditure, resulting in the plaintive plea from the engineer that the Riverton/Aparima borough electrification scheme was almost complete, and the town gas supply was about to be cut off, leaving the courthouse without lighting. Electricity was connected shortly afterwards.
In the absence of the original drawings, a valuation from the 1930s provides an idea of the layout of the building when it was functioning as a courthouse. The main rooms were: Court Room, Magistrate's Room and Witness Room. There was also a strong room and an office.
The Riverton Courthouse was in use by the Department of Justice until its closure in the 1960s. In 1969 the Riverton Playcentre took over the building officially opening their premises in July 1969.
In 1992 the building was purchased by the Wallace Early Settlers Association. The courthouse was connected to the Association's adjoining premises, and the building used for displays and office. The Wallace Early Settlers Museum was founded in 1959, evolving from a proposal in 1937 by the district's early settlers' association.
In 2007 the then Prime Minister Helen Clark announced its contribution of over $172,000 to complete the Riverton and District's Heritage and Tourist Centre's project. The grant allowed the redevelopment of the museum which incorporated a Tourist Centre into the museum and an exhibition ‘Te Hikoi' which illustrated the history of the area, focusing particularly on the early contact period between Maori and Europeans. The new facilities were designed by Invercargill architect John McCulloch.
Alongside this development was the redevelopment of the main street, including a ‘Riverton Focal Point' area which provided a focus for the town. The goal was to provide a town centre which would be a focus for both residents and tourists. The development saw landscaping and interpretation on the site adjoining the Courthouse, which took place after consultation with the community. The new Riverton and District's Heritage and Tourist Centre, incorporating the former courthouse, is an important element in this townscape feature.
