Waiaua or Lower Waiaua is a rural community in the
ÅŒpÅtiki District
ÅŒpÅtiki District is a territorial authority district in the North Island of New Zealand. The ÅŒpÅtiki District Council is headquartered in the largest town, ÅŒpÅtiki. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Lyn Riesterer has be ...
and
Bay of Plenty Region
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway ...
of New Zealand's
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-MÄui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
, located around the lower part of the
Waiaua River.
The area is in the traditional tribal area of
WhakatÅhea
WhakatÅhea is a MÄori people, MÄori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand.
The iwi is traditionally centred in the area around the town of ÅŒpÅtiki. The traditional territorial lands extend eastwards from Ohiwa Har ...
.
The New Zealand
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...
gives a translation of "waters containing herring" for . is usually translated as
yellow-eye mullet.
History
Early settlement
WhakatÅhea originally settled the flat lower river due to its abundance of ocean, ground and river food.
The following exclamation is attributed to WhakatÅhea ancestor TÄpuikÄkahu:
Modern history
The local WhakatÅhea hapÅ«,
NgÄti Patumoana or NgÄti Patu, moved their homes and marae to Waiaua after their land at
Paerata
Paerata is a small settlement immediately to the north of Pukekohe, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 22 some south of the Manukau Harbour. Wesley College is located close to the northern edge of Paerata.
The ...
was confiscated. The group takes its name from the event in which their ancestor, Hineiahua, was pursued and killed by
NgÄpuhi at the Waiaua River mouth.
Members of the hapū, such as the iwi elder Tiwai Amoamo, farmed the area during the 20th century.
The low-lying valley has regularly flooded after heavy rainfall during the 20th and 21st century.
Roads in the area were closed for several days in February 2018.
In 2011, the
New Zealand Government
, background_color = #012169
, image = New Zealand Government wordmark.svg
, image_size=250px
, date_established =
, country = New Zealand
, leader_title = Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
, appointed = Governor-General
, main_organ =
, ...
signed a formal pardon at Waiaua Marae for a local man, Mokomoko, who was wrongly hanged for murder in 1886, leading to the confiscation of WhakatÅhea land.
Marae
Waiaua Marae is the traditional tribal meeting ground of the
WhakatÅhea
WhakatÅhea is a MÄori people, MÄori iwi located in the eastern Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand.
The iwi is traditionally centred in the area around the town of ÅŒpÅtiki. The traditional territorial lands extend eastwards from Ohiwa Har ...
hapū of
NgÄti Patumoana or NgÄti Patu.
It includes the Ruamoko meeting house, opened in 1899.
In July 2020, Government minister
Andrew Little visited the marae for
Treaty of Waitangi negotiations with WhakatÅhea.
In October 2020, the Government committed $744,574 from the
Provincial Growth Fund to renovate the marae and two other WhakatÅhea marae, creating an estimated 30 jobs.
References
{{ÅŒpÅtiki District
ÅŒpÅtiki District
Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region