Hāwai is a coastal settlement in the

Ōpōtiki District Ōpōtiki District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand. The Ōpōtiki District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Ōpōtiki. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Lyn Riesterer has be ...

and

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway ...

of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

History

Hāwai is in the ''

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''. The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...

'' (traditional tribal area) of

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Te Whānau-ā-Apanui is a Māori iwi (Iwi is the Maori word for tribe) located in the eastern Bay of Plenty and East Coast regions of New Zealand's North Island. In 2006, the iwi registered 11,808 members, representing 13 hapū. History Early ...

. Te Whānau ā Apanui placed a

rāhui __NOTOC__ In Māori culture, a rāhui is a form of tapu restricting access to, or use of, an area or resource by the '' kaitiakitanga'' of the area. With the passing of the 1996 Fisheries Act, a rāhui was able to be imposed by the New Zealand M ...

on over 130 kilometres of coastline, west from Hāwai, following the

2019 Whakaari / White Island eruption On 9 December 2019 Whakaari / White Island, an active stratovolcano island in New Zealand's northeastern Bay of Plenty region explosive eruption, explosively erupted. The island was a popular tourist destination, known for its volcanic activity, ...

. During the 2020 coronavirus lockdown, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui set up road checkpoints to monitor and restrict travel into and through Hāwai. The restrictions were supported by

Ōpōtiki District Council Ōpōtiki District Council or Opotiki District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Ōpōtiki) is the territorial authority for the Ōpōtiki District of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific ...

and

New Zealand Police The New Zealand Police ( mi, Ngā Pirihimana o Aotearoa) is the national police service and principal law enforcement agency of New Zealand, responsible for preventing crime, enhancing public safety, bringing offenders to justice, and maintai ...

. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', the checkpoints operated 24 hours a day, unlike checkpoints set up by other iwi in other settlements. The restrictions lasted 47 days, from 12pm on 25 March until the delivery of a

karakia Karakia are Māori incantations and prayers, used to invoke spiritual guidance and protection. With the nineteenth-century introduction of Christianity to New Zealand, Māori adopted (or wrote new) karakia to acknowledge the new faith. Moder ...

at 12pm on 11 May. Te Whānau-ā-Apanui also set up initiatives during the lockdown to ensure elderly residents of Hāwai had access to essentials.

Marae

The settlement has two

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

. Maraenui Marae is a meeting place for the

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

of Te Whānau a Hikarukutai; its meeting house is called Te Iwarau. Tunapahore Marae is a meeting place for the hapū of Te Whānau a Haraawaka; its meeting house is called Haraawaka.

Education

Te Kura Mana Maori Maraenui is a co-educational Māori language immersion state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

References

Ōpōtiki District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region {{BayofPlenty-geo-stub