Tikapa is a rural community in the

Gisborne Region Gisborne District or the Gisborne Region (Māori: ''Te Tairāwhiti'' or ''Te Tai Rāwhiti'') is a local government area of northeastern New Zealand. It is governed by Gisborne District Council, a unitary authority (with the combined powers of ...

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 ...

. It is on the southern side of the

Waiapu River The Waiapu River is a river in the Gisborne District of the North Island of New Zealand, with a total length of approximately . Found in the north-east of the Waiapu Valley, it flows north-east from the joining of the Mata River and the Tapuaer ...

mouth and north of

Ruatoria Ruatoria ( mi, Ruatōria) is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the M ...

. In 1952 the community numbered 156, predominantly

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 ...

. There are several houses still standing, many of which have been left abandoned. On the road heading toward the coast of Tikapa, is a small hilltop cemetery called Taumata. It is said that this is the place where

Manuel José Manuel José de Jesus Silva Order of Merit (Portugal), ComM (born 9 April 1946), simply known as Manuel José (), is a Portuguese association football, football Manager (association football), manager. Some of the teams he has coached include ...

was buried. He was a Spanish whaler who in the early part of the 19th century was persuaded to stay in the

Waiapu Valley Waiapu Valley, also known as the Waiapu catchment, Waiapu River valley or simply Waiapu, is a valley in the north of the Gisborne Region on the East Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the catchment area for the Waiapu River and its ...

by tribal chiefs. One of the chiefs gave away his five daughters to Manuel, and thus produced over 10,000 descendants today."Spanish royals invited to Manuel Jose family reunion"
Murray Robertson, Nov 26, 2015, Gisborne herald Tikapa Valley was also to be the site of a school in the mid 19th century, to cater for children who were living at Tikapa. However, Sir Āpirana Ngata offered to place the school further inward the valley towards Waiomatatini, where it was built and remained there until it closed in the 1970s.

Marae

Tikapa Marae, located on a hill in the area, is the meeting place of the

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. Ngāti Porou is affiliated with the 28th Maori Battalion and has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi in New Zeala ...

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 Te Whānau a Hineauta and Te Whānau a Pōkai. It includes the late 19th century Pōkai

meeting house A meeting house (meetinghouse, meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a * church, which is a body of people who believe in Chr ...

, the Pohatu dining room and Hinekopeka Urupa cemetery. In October 2020, the Government committed $113,765 from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...

to upgrade the marae, creating an estimate 5.5 jobs.

References

Populated places in the Gisborne District {{Gisborne-geo-stub