The Pukekiwiriki (alternatively spelled and pronounced Pukekoiwiriki), also known as Red Hill, is the northernmost volcano of the South Auckland volcanic field in New Zealand, located east of

Papakura Papakura is a southern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately 32 kilometres south of the Auckland CBD. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council. Papakura is a M� ...

, which erupted an estimated one million years ago. The hill was the site of a major

Tāmaki Māori Tāmaki Māori are Māori ''iwi'' and ''hapū'' (tribes and sub-tribes) who have a strong connection to Tāmaki Makaurau (the Auckland Region), and whose rohe was traditionally within the region. Among Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the M ...

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 ...

, and the

Te Ākitai Waiohua Te Ākitai Waiohua is a Māori iwi of the southern part of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. History Te Ākitai Waiohua are descended from Kiwi Tāmaki, the grandson of Huakaiwaka, himself the ancestor of the Waiohua iwi, who lived in Tāmaki ...

village Te Aparangi in the 19th century.

Etymology

The name in

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 ...

literally means "the Hill of the Little Kiwi", but is also known by the name Pukekōiwiriki. This name, directly translated as "hill" (''puke''-) "bones" (''koiwi''-) "of the Riki people" (''riki'') or sometimes as "the Hill of the Small Skeleton", refers to the remains of ancient chiefs found at this hill, and the red soil, stained by their deaths. The English language name, Red Hill, refers to the red volcanic soils on the volcano's slopes.

Geology and biodiversity

Pukekiwiriki is a basalt volcano that erupted an estimated 1,000,000 years ago. The eruption flowed west towards

, and scoria thrown out from the eruption dammed the Hunua Gorge for a period. Some areas of Pukekiwiriki have remnant native forest, dominated by

taraire ''Taraire'' is a small genus of Polynesian long-jawed orb-weavers. The genus was first described by A. Álvarez-Padilla, R. J. Kallal and Gustavo Hormiga in 2020, and it has only been found in New Zealand. They build vertical orb webs near fore ...

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 ...

and

kohekohe Kohekohe (''Dysoxylum spectabile'') is a medium-sized tree in the Meliaceae family, native to New Zealand. It is found in lowland and coastal forests throughout most of the North Island and also occurs in the Marlborough Sounds in the north ...

trees.

History

The hill has a flat summit, which became the location of a

, known variously as Paritaiuru, Pukekōiwiriki or Pukekiwiriki. The pā is associated with the Tainui ancestress Mārama, who was the second wife of

Hoturoa According to Māori mythology, Māori tradition, Hoturoa was the leader of the ''Tainui (canoe), Tainui'' canoe, during the Māori migration canoes, migration of the Māori people to New Zealand, around 1400. He is considered the founding ancestor ...

, captain of the '' Tainui'' waka. She settled permanently at the pā after quarrelling with Hoturoa. The site became a home for the

people who descended from her, known as Ngā Marama, who later became a part of the

Waiohua Te Waiohua or Te Wai-o-Hua is a Māori iwi (tribe) confederation that thrived in the early 18th century. The iwi's rohe (tribal area) was primarily the central Tāmaki Makaurau area (the Auckland isthmus) and the Māngere peninsula, until the 17 ...

. The pā was strategically important, due to the view of the Manukau Harbour and the Hunua Ranges from this point, and was linked to settlements in the Hunua Ranges and

Bombay Hills The Bombay Hills are a range of hills to the south of Auckland, New Zealand. Though only a small and seemingly insignificant range of hills, they lie at the southern boundary of the Auckland region, and serve as a divide between Auckland and th ...

by paths. By the early 19th century, the residents of the area moved from the pā in favour of a

kāinga A kāinga ( Southern Māori ''kaika'' or ''kaik'') is the traditional form of village habitation of pre-European Māori in New Zealand. It was unfortified or only lightly fortified, and over time became less important to the well-defended pā. D ...

(village) on the slopes of Pukekiwiriki, known as called Te Aparangi. By this time, Te Aparangi became the major settlement for

. Te Aparangi was surrounded by extensive farms and orchards, where crops including

kūmara The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable. The young shoot ...

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

and wheat were grown for the growing town of Auckland. Te Ākitai Waiohua fled the village in July 1863, during the

Invasion of the Waikato The Invasion of the Waikato became the largest and most important campaign of the 19th-century New Zealand Wars. Hostilities took place in the North Island of New Zealand between the military forces of the colonial government and a federation ...

References

{{Papakura Local Board Area Papakura Local Board Area Geography of Auckland Landforms of the Auckland Region * Volcanism of New Zealand Geology of New Zealand Volcanoes of the Auckland Region