Little Huia is a western coastal settlement of West Auckland,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and forms part of the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...

Regional Park, bordering the

Manukau Harbour The Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and opens out into the Tasman Sea. Geography The harbour mouth is between the northern head ("Burne ...

. It is located south-west of the settlement of

Huia The huia ( ; ; ''Heteralocha acutirostris'') is an extinct species of New Zealand wattlebird, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. The last confirmed sighting of a huia was in 1907, although there was a credible sighting in 1924. It ...

Geography

The settlement is found in the lower

, where the Marama Stream forms a valley as it flows into the

. South of the settlement is Te Kā-a-Maki / Jackie Hill, a headland in the Manukau Harbour. At the base of this headland is Kaiteke Point, the western-most opening of the Huia Bay. The Little Huia area is dominated by a warm lowlands

pūriri ''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Solan ...

forest. The coastline between Whatipu and Little Huia is a unique ecosystem in the area as it is semi-exposed to the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

, leading to a diverse

pōhutukawa ''Metrosideros excelsa'', commonly known as pōhutukawa ( mi, pōhutukawa), New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display o ...

forest that includes

nīkau ''Rhopalostylis sapida'', commonly known as nīkau ( mi, nīkau), is a palm tree endemic to New Zealand, and the only palm native to mainland New Zealand. Etymology is a Māori word; in the closely related Eastern Polynesian languages of the ...

, ''

Coprosma arborea ''Coprosma arborea'' is a species found in New Zealand, traditionally known in Māori by the name mamangi. The flowers have insignificant petals and are wind pollinated, with long anthers and stigmas. The fruit is a non-poisonous juicy berry, c ...

'' and ''

Sophora fulvida ''Sophora fulvida'', the kōwhai or west coast kōwhai is one of 8 species of native ''Sophora'' or kōwhai in New Zealand and grows naturally around the Northland, Auckland and Waikato regions of New Zealand. Under the New Zealand Threat Class ...

''. ''

Pittosporum ellipticum ''Pittosporum'' ( or ) is a genus of about 200 species of flowering plants in the family Pittosporaceae. The genus is probably Gondwanan in origin; its present range extends from Australasia, Oceania, eastern Asia and some parts of Africa. ''Cit ...

'', otherwise rare in the Waitākere Ranges, is relatively common on dry hillsides sheltered from saltspray.

History

The settlement is in the traditional

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 ...

Te Kawerau ā Maki Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. Auckland Council gave it land for a marae at Te Henga (Bethells Be ...

, close to the location of Te Komoki, one of the few West Auckland

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

to have defensive ditches. Te Komoki pā site is located at Te Kā-a-Maki / Jackie Hill, a 148-metre hill to the south of Little Huia. The pā has 12 terrances and five pits, protected by cliff faces on three sides and a ditch on the fourth. Te Komoki is one of the best preserved pā of the Waitākere Ranges. The name for the hill, Te Kā-a-Maki ("The Fires of Maki"), refers to Maki, the eponymous ancestor of Te Kawerau ā Maki. Kaiteke Point ("feigning eating"), the south-western point of Huia Bay, is named after a traditional story involving a

Waikato Tainui Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori ''iwi'' based in Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand o ...

chief who visited the northern shores of the Manukau Harbour. Travelling westwards, he was welcomed by the people of Huia with a feast of

tarakihi ''Nemadactylus macropterus'', the tarakihi, jackass morwong or deep sea perch, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is ...

fish. On the other side of the bay, he was welcomed with a second feast. Too full from the tarakihi but too polite to refuse, the chief feigned eating the food from the feast. This legend gave rise to the name of the eastern point of Huia Bay, Kaitarakihi Point, and the western, Kaiteke Point. In the early 1860s, the Gibbons family established a dam for

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

logging on the Marama Stream, near modern-day Little Huia. The stream was named after an early resident, Jackie Marama, a

Pākehā Māori Pākehā Māori were early European settlers (known as Pākehā in the Māori language) who lived among the Māori in New Zealand. History Many Pākehā Māori were runaway seamen or escaped Australian convicts who settled in Māori communities ...

settler who lived at the mouth of the stream in the 1860s. In the 1880s, the Barr family settled at Little Huia, followed by Edward Turner in 1891. The Barr family constructed a second dam of the Marama Stream in the early 1900s. In 1907, a ferry wharf was built at Little Huia. Members of the Turner family continue to own land near Huia in the present day.

Demographics

Statistics New Zealand considers Little Huia as part of the

rural settlement. The SA1 statistical area which corresponds to Little Huia extends north to the Lower Huia Dam, and covers . The SA1 statistical area had a population of 126 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 9 people (7.7%) since the 2013 census, and unchanged since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 57 households, comprising 57 males and 66 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.86 males per female. The median age was 46.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 24 people (19.0%) aged under 15 years, 12 (9.5%) aged 15 to 29, 72 (57.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 18 (14.3%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 95.2% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 14.3%

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

, 4.8% Pacific peoples, 2.4%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 0.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 73.8% had no religion, 16.7% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 2.4% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 0.0% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 24 (23.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 18 (17.6%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $31,800, compared with $31,800 nationally. 15 people (14.7%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 48 (47.1%) people were employed full-time, 18 (17.6%) were part-time, and 3 (2.9%) were unemployed.

References

Print references

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Huia Populated places around the Manukau Harbour Populated places in the Auckland Region Waitākere Ranges Waitākere Ranges Local Board Area