Whatatutu is a small settlement in the northeast 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 ...
's
North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, 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 ...
. It is located north of
Te Karaka
Te Karaka is a small settlement inland from Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne, in the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It is located in the valley of the Waipaoa River close to its junction with its tributary, the Waihora River. Te Karaka is ...
on the upper reaches of the
Waipaoa River
The Waipaoa River is a river of the northeast of New Zealand's North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of the Raukumara Range, flowing south for to reach Poverty Bay and the Pacific Ocean just south of Gisborne. For about half of this d ...
, close to its meeting with its tributaries, the
Mangatu River and
Waingaromia River.
Whatatutu is about 45 minutes from
Gisborne and is home to about 300 people. Oil-bearing rock has been known to exist in small quantities for many years, but not in commercial quantities. The search for more economically viable sources continues in the area.
Marae
Whatatutu has three
marae
A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...
related to the
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 Aitanga ā Māhaki, originally belonging to the Iwi of Ngariki Kaiputahi.
Māngatu Marae and Te Ngāwari meeting house is a meeting place of
Ngariki Kaiputahi.
In October 2020, the Government committed $185,301 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's effluent system, creating 3 jobs.
Te Wainui and Te Whare o Hera meeting house is also affiliated with the Ngariki Kaiputahi Iwi.
In October 2020, the Government committed $812,548 to upgrade Mahaki marae and
Mātāwai Marae, creating 15.4 jobs.
Taihamiti Marae is a meeting place of
Ngāi Tamatea.
References
Populated places in the Gisborne District
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