General Nature Of Wāhi Tapu / Tīpuna / Tapu Area

Pāpāwai Marae sits at the heart of the small Maori community of Pāpāwai, five kilometres east of Greytown in southern Wairarapa. The marae is located beside Pah Road, facing north-east. At the rear of the marae Pāpāwai Stream flows its short length from the puna that is its source to its mouth on the Ruamahanga River. Entry to the marae is through a low wrought-iron gate under a carved waharoa surmounted by the carved figure of Rongokako. Rongokako, the tohunga on the Takitimu waka, is an important tūpuna for Ngati Kahungunu (the Maori Council established in Wairarapa in the early 1900s was called the Rongokako Council). The urupā, not included in the extent of this list entry, is Rangiurunga which is located a short distance east along Pah Road from the marae. Inside the low perimeter fence are arrayed 16 whakapakoko set out at regular intervals. These whakapakoko depict tūpuna and rangatira of significance to Pāpāwai and its people. Whakapakoko usually face outwards in defence but most of those at Pāpāwai face inwards, symbolising the unique tikanga of Pāpāwai and its foundations of peace and unity. The whakapakoko include a depiction of the early Pākehā settler and surveyor William Mein Smith, holding a map in his hand. Other figures depicted include tūpuna significant to Pāpāwai such as Ngatuere Tawhirimatea Tawhao, Te Rangitakaiwaho (father of Te Manihera Te Rangitakaiwaho) and Kauhi (tūpuna of Pāpāwai hapu Ngati Kauhi). A few of the whakapakoko face outwards from the corners of the marae, including one depicting Nukupewapewa whose prowess in fighting in defence of his people is respected by this positioning. Through the waharoa is the marae ātea and the whare tūpuna Hikurangi. The whare is believed to be named for the Hikurangi Trench, a very deep feature of the sea floor off the east coast of Wairarapa and Tairawhiti, which was known to Māori fishers. The name Hikurangi may also refer back to a maunga on Hawaiki of the same name that was a place of refuge. When completed in 1888, Hikurangi was originally located a little east of its current location. Following repairs and restoration it was moved to its current site in the 1980s. To the west of the marae ātea is the wharekai Te Waipounamu. It carries the name of the original wharekai, opened in 1897 but which was damaged in 1934 before collapsing in 1935. The name was used in 1897 to refer to nga iwi o Te Waipounamu, reflecting the national focus of Kotahitanga which was then centred on Pāpāwai. In the same vein, another of the Kotahitanga parliamentary buildings (the main meeting hall, also opened in 1897 and abutting Te Waipounamu) was named Aotea, for the iwi of that waka. Behind Hikurangi is the kauta and ablutions block. Between Hikurangi and Te Waipounamu is one of two small shelters, the other being to the east of Hikurangi. Beside the latter shelter stands a five-metre high carving, being half a waka which was erected in 1996 to commemorate the centenary of the agreement between the Crown and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa over Wairarapa Moana, an agreement that was signed at Pāpāwai. The other half of this carved waka stands beside the waharoa to the Ngati Kahungunu marae Pouākani, at Mangakino (on land allocated by the Crown to the owners of Wairarapa Moana, following its failure to honour reserves provisions in the 1896 Wairarapa Moana agreement). To the left of the entrance to Pāpāwai marae across a lawn, in the north-eastern corner of the site, sits a memorial to Tamahau Mahupuku, rebuilt in 1982 from elements of the original monument erected in 1911 but severely damaged by the 1942 earthquake. The memorial consists of three engraved marble panels flanked by two Corinthian pillars (salvaged from the four panels and pillars that comprised the original monument). The panel to the left depicts the signing of the tuku rangatira of Wairarapa Moana to the Crown in 1896, the centre panel contains text in te reo Māori referring to the life, role, and significance of Tamahau, and the panel to the right depicts Tamahau. The memorial is flanked by two plaques; the one to the left commemorates the 1982 unveiling of the memorial by Maori Affairs Minister the Hon. Ben Couch and the one to the right recording the role of the Ministry of Works and Development in erecting the memorial from the remains of the original monument.

Pāpāwai has been settled by Ngāti Kahungunu since Ngāti Moe rangatira led their people south to occupy Wairarapa. The origins and even the meaning of the name Pāpāwai have been lost to time. Prior to the temporary withdrawal of many Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa from the district to refuge at Nukutaurua (Mahia) in the 1830s, there were a number of papakainga and whare in the vicinity of the present marae. The Emergence of Pāpāwai in the Colonial Era Following the return of those who had taken refuge in Nukutaurua to Wairarapa in about 1840, Pāpāwai was reoccupied but it was not until the arrival of early settlers and visits from government officials that the place assumed a newfound significance in the colonial era. It became a centre of iwi efforts to establish a new tikanga of engagement with the Crown and with Pākeha during an era in which the hapū of Pāpāwai and the iwi of Wairarapa sought to adjust to te ao hou in a way that would benefit Māori and their new Pākeha neighbours. In 1853 the rangatira of Pāpāwai, with the encouragement of Governor Grey, gifted 400 acres land at Pāpāwai to Bishop George Selywn to endow a church boarding school for pupils throughout Wairarapa in order to foster their spiritual and educational advancement. Building on this initiative, Pāpāwai rangatira and others of Wairarapa worked with Grey and his Government that year to foster settlement in the district under a new tikanga that would promote the interests of both Māori and Pakeha. It included provision for schools, medical services, an ongoing endowment fund administered with rangatira, and promises of economic development of benefit to both races. An immediate benefit of this new tikanga was the establishment of a flour mill on Pāpāwai Stream, which runs along the southern boundary of Pāpāwai Marae. The mill and the school later built nearby on the gifted endowment land were beside the planned ‘Native township’ of Pāpāwai, intended as an economic and cultural hub for the district as Ngāti Kahungunu looked to benefit from the arrival of settlers through these innovations. These early Pāpāwai initiatives suffered from a lack of investment from church and government alike, or as Te Manihera later put it, “the town came to nought.”

Historical and Associated Iwi / Hapu / Whanau