Traditional History
Moeraki is located on part of the South Island coastline known as Te Tai o Te Arai Te Uru. The Arai Te Uru was an early voyaging canoe that came to New Zealand from Hawaiki under the guidance of Rongo-i-tua. Rongo-i-tua had introduced kumara to the Kahui-tipua people of the South Island, who in return assisted Rongo-i-tua in the construction of a canoe for him to return to Hawaiki and secure additional kumara for cultivation in the south. On his return to the South Island, the Arai Te Uru encountered a fierce storm, and according to J. Herries Beattie's retelling of collected accounts, a crew member was lost overboard at the mouth of the Waitaki River, then the canoe was blown further down the east coast of the South Island, and after losing much of its cargo of kumara at the beach known as Kai-hinaki (the site of the famous boulders near Moeraki), the waka was wrecked at Matakaea (Shag Point) where it lies petrified in the landscape. Moeraki is positioned on an outcrop in the coastline between these two significant locations, and the coastline within the immediate vicinity of the township includes Moeraki Point, Tawhiroko Point, Okahau Point, and Katiki Point to the south.
Early Settlement
Moeraki is regarded as one of the oldest continuously occupied settlements in New Zealand. The region is traditionally associated with early inhabitants, such as the Kahui-tipua, Te Rapuwai, Waitaha and Kati Mamoe peoples. Archaeological excavations on the south side of the Moeraki peninsula at Waimataitai Lagoon in the 1950s show the area was home to human occupation while moa were still available as a food source. The analysis of the finds at Waimataitai indicates this part of North Otago has been frequented by humans since at least the thirteenth century. McLean describes Moeraki as being one of the early cradles of knowledge for Waitaha and Kati Mamoe histories. When Ngai Tahu migrated to the South Island, Katiki Point was settled by Taoka. Moeraki itself became one of the many seasonal occupation sites of Ngai Tahu.
The arrival of Europeans at Moeraki (also known by the name of Onekakara), is well documented. On Boxing Day 1836 John Hughes and his station crew came ashore from their ship Magnet to set up a whaling station close to where the present day settlement of Moeraki remains. The ship had come from Peraki, near Banks Peninsula, and the party included six Europeans and six Maori. One of the crew - William Haberfield - provided an account of the early settlement to the Evening Star of Dunedin in the 1890s in which he noted nine Ngai Tahu people living at Katiki Point. Their leader was Takatahara, who was known to have fought at Kaiapoi against Te Rauparaha in 1831 and in the defence of Onawe Pa at Akaroa Harbour in 1832. Haberfield notes that Takatahara and his men went to Akaroa a few months after the whalers established their station at Moeraki.
During the first whaling season two boats and twelve men caught 23 whales from the Moeraki base, producing 28 tons of oil. In the whalers' second season in 1838, four boats and 18 men were based at Moeraki, and it was during this season that a heke (migration) of Kai Tuahuriri led by Matiaha Tiramorehu came to Moeraki. The heke came from Kaiapoi 'in canoes and an old whaling boat'. They settled about a mile and a half away from what is now Moeraki Township at Tawhiroko Point, subsequently known as the Kaik.
Matiaha Tiramorehu (c1795-1881)
The leader of this party, Matiaha Tiramorehu was born at Kaiapoi Pa, son of Karaki, and grandson of Turakautahi. Turakautahi was the founder of Kaiapoi Pa, which had earned renown as the largest fortified village in the South Island . Tiramorehu had affiliations to Kai Tuahuriri, Kati Hateatea, Kai Tuteahuka, Kai Tuhaitara, and Ngati Mamoe.
Tiramorehu was educated at the whare wananga (school of higher learning) at Maungamaunu, and his expertise in traditional knowledge was commented upon by many, including Edward Shortland in is journal of 1844. The Wesleyan missionary Reverend James Watkin also noted that Tiramorehu was 'perhaps better acquainted with genealogical antiquities than any other person', and the missionary James W Stack considered him to be 'the best authority on Maori traditions in the South Island'.
When Kaiapoi Pa was attacked by Ngati Toa led by Te Rauparaha in 1831, Tiramorehu is said to have taken part in the battle alongside his father Karaki. He was also subsequently involved in the battle at Oraumoaiti. It was towards the end of this conflict with Ngati Toa that Tiramorehu led a group of his people to take up residence at Moeraki in 1838. Garven notes that Tiramorehu and his flotilla were given permission by Paitu - the existing rangatira of the Moeraki area - to settle at Tawhiroko Point. When Paitu passed away it was Tiramorehu who became chief of the settlement.
Tiramorehu was baptised by the Rev. James Watkin in 1843 and encouraged his Moeraki community to take up the Wesleyan faith. He also encouraged the use of European agricultural practices, and was a signatory to the Canterbury purchase negotiated by Henry Tacy Kemp at Akaroa in 1848. This land sale was to be the only Tiramorehu would ever sign, and by 1849 Tiramorehu had taken an active role in alleging breaches of the purchase conditions. His letter to E. J. Eyre on 22 October 1849 is significant in Ngai Tahu history as the first formal statement of Ngai Tahu grievances in regards to land purchases in the South Island.
In 1860 Tiramorehu was appointed as one of the two native assessors for Otago, which included the duties of a local magistrate. Tiramorehu was a dedicated member of the Moeraki community, advocating for the establishment of hospitals and schools, and he also established a whare wananga at Moeraki known as Omanawharetapu in 1868-1870 along with Rawiri Te Maire. It was also during this decade that Tiramorehu successfully advocated for the establishment of a church at Moeraki.
During the 1870s Tiramorehu took a leading role in campaigning for the investigation by the Crown of Ngai Tahu grievances. In February 1879 the Commission on Middle Island Native Land Purchases (also known as the Smith-Nairn commission) was established, and Tiramorehu gave evidence to the commission in 1879 and 1880.
Tiramorehu died at Moeraki on 7 April 1881, and his tangi is one of the most significant recorded events associated with the church at Moeraki in the nineteenth century. The North Otago Times reported on the tangi and noted that approximately 500 people attended; 400 Maori and 100 Europeans. The tangi was reported in many newspapers of the time, and the Otago Witness ran an extensive article on the tangi, which noted that telegrams were sent to Southland, Christchurch, Nelson, and Napier advising of his death. The service was conducted by the Rev. F. Dodd of the Anglican Diocese of Dunedin, and the Maori minister Erewa Takara.
Tiramorehu was married three times throughout his long life. He married his first wife Pirihira Pi of Kai Turakautahi in 1849. They had one child, a boy, who died in infancy. In his second marriage, he had two girls, both of whom also died young, and in his third marriage, they had one girl, who survived to adulthood and was married, but died shortly afterwards.
Early Missionary Activity
Kotahitanga church has a history that reflects the variety of relationships established between the Maori community of Moeraki and nineteenth century missionaries of various denominations. The earliest contact between Moeraki Maori and missionaries was with the first Christian mission to be established in Otago. The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society had established a mission to New Zealand, Australia and Tonga in the 1820s. The New Zealand mission commenced in 1822 at Kaeo, however following an attack by Ngati Uru in 1827 the Wesleyans relocated their mission to Mangungu on the Hokianga. The society gradually expanded its work to the South Island, and the first minister to visit was the Rev. W. White, in April, 1836.
The Waikouaiti settler Johnny Jones made a formal request to the Wesleyan Board in Sydney for a mission station to be established and in 1840 the Rev. James Watkin and his wife Hannah established the first Otago mission at Waikouaiti near Moeraki . Watkin visited Moeraki that year, by which time the whale catches were in decline. As the whaling activity declined in the 1840s, the period saw a drastic increase in missionary activity in the
Otago region.
Later in 1840 the Catholic Bishop J. B. F. Pompallier also made a visit to Moeraki and spent five days there. In 1843 the settlement was visited by the Anglican mission, represented by Matene Te Whiwhi, and Tamihana Te Rauparaha, son of Tiramorehu's former enemy in battle. There were converts to all of the faiths that visited, but on the 30th July 1843 Tiramorehu accepted the Wesleyan faith and was baptised by Rev. Watkin, along with the chiefs Horomona Pohio, Natanahira Waruwarutu, Rawiri Te Maire and Merekihereka Hape. Tiramorehu took the first name Matiaha (Matthias) and become a dedicated supporter of the Wesleyan Mission at Waikouaiti.
Further to the inter-denominational nature of the religious community at Moeraki, T.A. Pybus, in his Maori and Missionary : Early Christian Missions in the South Island of New Zealand noted that Rev. Watkin 'had a deep veneration for the Anglican Church and its devoted pioneer missionaries, and this spirit continued to mark his later relationships with the Anglican Church and with Bishop Selwyn.'
A small church that no longer stands is described by Pybus, and mentioned in Rev. Watkin's journals of 1842. In 1862 the church that is now known as Kotahitanga Church was constructed at the Kaik. Reference is made to the church in the records of the Anglican Rural Deanery Board for that year ‘At Oamaru, vigorous efforts are being made to raise funds for a stone parsonage; and at Moeraki, to build a small church'. It is not known who oversaw the construction of the church, but the Rev. J. C. Andrew served Moeraki in 1861, the Rev S. D. Green followed between January and May 1862, and was succeeded by the Rev A. Gifford from June of that year. The earliest known photographs of the church are referred to in The Otago Witness, when reporting on the New Zealand Exhibition of 1865. The article notes the introduction of a series of photos from Otago taken by Mr Joseph Perry, two of which depict Moeraki, and ‘The second view includes the Maori Kaik'. The Kaik looks like an important village; and the new church stands out prominently and pleasantly in the middle distance'.
Comparison with Other Early Churches
The oldest surviving church in the South Island is St Bartholomew's Anglican Church in Kaiapoi (Category I historic place, record number 285) which was opened in 1855, and the oldest church that remains today in Otago is St John's Anglican Church in Waikouaiti (Category I historic place, record number 334) dating to 1858. Both of these churches were built to provide a place of worship for the settler communities of these two settlements, whereas Kotahitanga Church is the oldest surviving Maori mission church in the South Island. Of a similar age is the Maori mission church of St Stephen's at Tuahiwi (Category I historic place, record number 7380) which dates to 1867. There are earlier Maori mission churches in the North Island; the most famous of these was Rangiatea at Otaki which dated to 1851, although the original structure was destroyed by fire in 1995. The oldest surviving Maori mission church in New Zealand is considered to be St John's Anglican Church at Te Awamutu which was constructed in 1853 (Category I historic place, record number 28).
The Church Falls into Disrepair
Throughout the 1880s the church suffered from disuse and lack of proximity to the population centre of Moeraki. In 1884 a reporter for the Otago Witness wrote of the church at Moeraki;
‘A walk of about a quarter of an hour brings us to a small gabled church, with broken windows and in a general state of decay. It evidently had done good service in the old days of the missionaries, and occasionally Episcopalian services are still held in it. On the western side of the church is the graveyard, where several railed-in plots mark the last resting-place of many of the old natives of Maoriland, and also remain in memoriam of the ravages civilization has wrought upon a once flourishing tribe. This church, this churchyard, and a few dwellings form the Moeraki Maori Kaik - were at one time one of the most important in Otago.'
A writer for the Otago Witness made a visit to the Kaik in 1887 with the Rev. Wynter Blathwaite (who began as a lay reader at Puketeraki and Moeraki in 1885), where he described the church as follows:
‘we make our way over to the church - a small building with lancet-shaped windows and a turret and bell, which is sadly in need of painting and re-seating. This the pastor informs us this could be done for the small sum of ₤19 in addition to what has already been collected, but unfortunately the Maoris are unable at present to assist in raising this amount, owing to their poverty and their losses sustained last year.'
The correspondent also notes that very few houses are located in the immediate vicinity of the church by this time, and that many of the dwellings are on the hillside around the Kaik. The Rev. Blathwaite's visit led to the first building restoration programme for this church, which was already regarded as being of historic significance by 1887. The Otago Witness reported on the Anglican Synod's meeting, where a report by Wynter Blathwaite was read on the missions at Puketeraki and Moeraki. Of the Moeraki church it noted that services are very well attended every Sunday, conducted by the native lay-reader Mr Henry Rehu. A choir was formed by Jospeh Tipa and Mr Rakatipu. The church was provided with new seating through a contribution by Archdeacon Fenton, and a reading desk was provided by the teachers and students of the North Valley Sunday school at St. Martin's. A donation was also received for the church restoration from the St. John's Roslyn Sunday School. Rev. Blathwaite continued to raise awareness of the conservation needs of the church, and in 1888 gave a description of the Moeraki church as a ‘little weather beaten church, containing reading desk and lectern, but still no sanctuary.' The Rev. Blathwaite's son, G.C. Blathwaite's report of the Maori Mission for 1887-1888 mentions the substantial fence around the church, and that the roof was repaired, and a new iron ridge added, at the expense of the local Maori.
The following year the Otago Witness reported on the Anglican Synod's meeting, which saw the formation of a church restoration committee at Moeraki, and an appeal for donations was announced, with ₤12 of the ₤40 needed having been raised so far. The fundraising would include the provision of a sanctuary, and stained glass windows for the church.
The Otago Witness of 12/1/1891 noted ‘at Moeraki the Rev Wynter Blathwaite still retains the general superintendence, and his son, now a licensed lay-reader takes the fortnightly service, with others conducted by Mr Joseph Tipa.' The article also notes that due to the death of a chief at Kaiapoi, the proposed additions to the church will be delayed, but that a stained glass window has arrived from England ‘and there is a sum of ₤25 in hand'.
The Stained Glass Windows
The three stained glass windows are collectively known as the ‘Sermon on the Mount' and were made by John Hardman & Co. in Birmingham in 1891. John Hardman & Co. was established in 1838, and began producing stained glass from 1844 onwards. The company had a close affiliation with A.W.N. Pugin, who commissioned the stained glass for the Houses of Parliament from the company, which opened in 1852. Hardman & Co also manufactured the stained glass for St Andrew's Cathedral in Sydney in 1868, and for St Stephen's in Tuahiwi in 1888.
The three windows that make up the ‘Sermon on the Mount' show Jesus holding a bible, flanked by one individual to the left, and a woman and child to the right. The left window depicts Matiaha Tiramorehu , and is based on a photograph of him, which is now in the collection of the late Rev. T. A. Pybus. This depiction of a Maori person in a nineteenth century stained glass window is regarded as extremely rare and this is possibly the earliest example of such a depiction, and also the earliest depiction of a New Zealand born individual in stained glass. In 1893 the stained glass windows were installed at the church, and Wynter Blathwaite suggested at the time that the depiction of Tiramorehu in the window is possibly one of the earliest examples of Maori to be honoured in this way in a New Zealand Church. In Fiona Ciaran's Stained glass windows of Canterbury, New Zealand: a catalogue raisonne, although primarily discussing Canterbury stained glass, Ciaran states that there are no obvious references to New Zealand in stained glass until after 1910, and that Maori are only depicted in three pieces of stained glass art in the Canterbury region, the earliest of these being an unidentified stereotypical Maori figure in the ‘The Service of Humanity' by Mark Travers in the Great Hall of the Christchurch Arts Centre, which dates to 1936.
The Church in the Twentieth Century
Wynter Blathwaite left Moeraki in 1898, and was replaced by H. J. Davis. By 1901 The Kaik - along with the church - is described as being abandoned and the memorial stained glass windows were placed in storage in Oamaru.
There is very little recorded on the church at Moeraki for the first part of the twentieth century, but at the Moeraki Centenary Celebrations held on Boxing Day 1936 a service was held in the church and a collection taken to begin restoration of the church for a second time. This was to be the final service held in the church until it was moved to its new location. The outbreak of the second world war halted restoration planning, but in 1945 members of the Moeraki Runanga presented the church to the Rev J. N. Thompson, vicar of Hampton-Maheno, for removal to a site at the port in Moeraki, where the church would be in closer proximity to the community. Rev. Thompson managed to fundraise about ₤220 for this, but issues arose with the land for the relocation from the Dept. Lands and Surveys, and the project went on hold.
On 4 May 1961 a meeting was held in Oamaru to plan the relocation of the church, and on August 26 of that year the church was moved from the Kaawa Cemetery Maori Reserve to a site at the west end of Centenary Park, Moeraki. The translucent glass with sailing ship motifs that is present in the 12 pointed arch windows of the church was installed at this time.
The rededication of the church was conducted on Boxing Day 1961 by the Rt. Rev. A. H. Johnston, Anglican Bishop of Dunedin, as part of Moeraki's 125th anniversary celebrations. The celebrations included a hangi and concert performance by the Arai Te Uru Maori Concert Party from Dunedin, and Items from the Oamaru Garrison Band. The event was attended by local Moeraki Maori, of which the ODT noted there were seven families in Moeraki, plus relations from Temuka, Morven, Karitane, and some North Island Maori who were working on the Benmore Hydro-Electric project. It was at this time that the church was named ‘Kotahitanga' to mark the blending of cultures and the residents' involvement. More than 3000 people were reported to attend the event, and a dance was held at the Coronation Hall to conclude events.
In 1968 it was discovered that the ground at Centennial Park was too unstable for the building and the church was moved again to the site of a former quarry on Haven Street that was made available by the Waitaki County Council. Stucco cladding was added over the weatherboards at this time.
In 1977 the Department of Lands and Surveys requested payment for the land at the quarry site, as although the land had been gifted by the council, it was in fact Crown land. Eventually the land was declared an historic reserve, to be administered by the Dunedin Diocesan Trust Board. In April 1978 a plaque was presented by the Otago Regional Committee of the NZ Historic Places Trust to Kotahitanga Church at the conclusion of a North Otago weekend field trip by the committee. The plaque was unveiled by the Rev Russell Joyce at a ceremony attended by 75 people.
Kotahitanga Church still stands in its Haven Street location, and is regarded as one of the most significant historic landmarks of the Moeraki community, and symbolic of both the Maori and Pakeha histories of the township.
