bay
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
on the eastern shore of
Lake Taupō
Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; mi, Taupō-nui-a-Tia or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of the Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's nor ...
, New Zealand, about 27km south-east of
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town on the north-eastern shore of Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake, in the central North Island. It is the largest urban area of the Taupō District, and the second-largest urban area in the Wai ...
township. It was known as Hamaria, in the nineteenth century. and before that Paka. The early
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 ...
explorer
Tia
TIA or Tia may refer to:
Aviation
* Tampa International Airport, US, IATA code TPA
* Texas International Airlines, US, ICAO code
* Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza, Albania, IATA code
* Trans International Airlines, former U.S. airl ...
built a tūāhu (ceremonial altar) to signify he occupied the land and named the cliffs Taupō-nui-a-Tia (the great cloak of Tia). This name was later given to the lake by the occupying tribes that followed.
History
Ngātoro-i-rangi
In Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi (Ngātoro) is the name of a tohunga (priest) prominent during the settling of New Zealand ( Aotearoa) by the Māori people, who came from the traditional homeland Hawaiki on the '' Arawa'' canoe. He is the an ...
is a principal ancestor of
Ngāti Tūwharetoa
Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Isla ...
. He was the priest navigator of the
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu (tribes and sub-tribes) of New Zealand who trace their ancestry to the Arawa migration canoe (''waka'').Tauhara mountain and then travelled eastwards around the lake. He arrived at Pākā Bay and found a ''tūāhu'' (altar) already constructed by Tia (an important tupuna for Tūwharetoa) that included green leaves, indicating it was of recent construction.
Ngātoro-i-rangi
In Māori tradition, Ngātoro-i-rangi (Ngātoro) is the name of a tohunga (priest) prominent during the settling of New Zealand ( Aotearoa) by the Māori people, who came from the traditional homeland Hawaiki on the '' Arawa'' canoe. He is the an ...
used old, scorched materials to build his own tūāhu, which he used to conduct certain sacred rites and to establish his claim to the lands. He showed Tia his tūāhu and, seeing the older materials, Tia agreed that Ngātoro-i-rangi had a prior claim to the land. Accepting Ngātoro-i-rangi's claim, Tia left for Titiraupenga on the western shores of Lake Taupō. ''Pākā'' is a Te Reo Māori word meaning "to be burnt" or "scorched", and is a reference to Ngātoro-i-rangi scorching branches of leaves.
Missionaries renamed Pākā 'Hamaria' in the mid-1800s (a transliteration of
Samaria
Samaria (; he, שֹׁמְרוֹן, translit=Šōmrōn, ar, السامرة, translit=as-Sāmirah) is the historic and biblical name used for the central region of Palestine, bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The first- ...
). Later, it was renamed again 'Halletts Bay', before being restored to "Pākā Bay". Following the passage of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa Claims Settlement Act 2018, the name of the bay was officially altered to Pākā Bay in March 2019.
Geological Features
Pākā Bay encompasses the following point/s;
* Toki Point