Poroutawhao is a small rural settlement in the

Horowhenua District Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

of New Zealand's North Island. It is located just north-west of Levin on

State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...

. The settlement has a school and a community hall, which due to its old age has been expensive to maintain. Huia Marae and Matau Marae, located next to each other south of the main settlement, are traditional meeting grounds of the

Ngāti Raukawa Ngāti Raukawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Waikato, Taupo and Manawatu/Horowhenua regions of New Zealand. In 2006, 29,418 Māori registered their affiliation with Ngāti Raukawa. History Early history Ngāti Raukawa rec ...

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 op ...

of Ngāti Huia. There are several Māori land blocks around the marae, and both north and south of the settlement.

History

Ngati Toa ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written an ...

leader

Te Rangihaeata Te Rangihaeata ( 1780s – 18 November 1855), was a Ngāti Toa chief, nephew of Te Rauparaha. He had a leading part in the Wairau Affray and the Hutt Valley Campaign. Early life A member of the Ngāti Toa, he was born at Kawhia around 1780. Hi ...

and his followers settled in the coastal river swamp in the 1840s, following the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

and the Hutt Valley Campaign. The party set up a defensible position against colonial forces, but received little support from other Māori. Te Rangihaeata raided

Kapiti Island Kapiti Island () is an island about off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of . Its name has been used s ...

in 1847, as his party tried to fend off starvation. He also starting charging a toll to people travelling through Poroutawhao on the Foxton to Levin Road, until reaching an agreement with Governor Grey in 1853. Te Rangihaeata died at Poroutawhao in 1855 and was buried there with his wife,

Ngati Apa ''Ngati'' is a 1987 New Zealand feature film directed by Barry Barclay, written by Tama Poata and produced by John O'Shea. Production ''Ngati'' is of historical and cultural significance in New Zealand as it is the first feature film written ...

woman of mana Te Pikinga. In 1920,

Native Land Court Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

agent and interpreter Ben Keys travelled through Poroutawhao, recording the experiences of local Māori in his diary. A 1963 photograph of the Huia marae, held at Kapiti Coast Library, shows a small carved house with Kowhaiwhai decorations on the porch.

Education

Poroutawhao School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of .

References

{{coord, -40.553023, 175.269921, display=title, region:NZ-MWT_type:city Populated places in Manawatū-Whanganui Horowhenua District