Pāpāwai

Looking through the waharoa (gate) and on to the meeting house Hikurangi in 2005

Pāpāwai is a historic settlement and marae located near Greytown, New Zealand. In the late 19th century, the marae was an important site of Te Kotahitanga, the Māori parliament movement.

Description

Pāpāwai is located inland, four kilometres (2.5 mi) east of Greytown, a rural town in the centre of the Wairarapa region of the lower North Island. It is affiliated with the Ngāti Kahungunu hapū of Ngāti Kahukuranui o Kahungunu Kauiti, Ngāti Meroiti and Ngāti Moe, and the Rangitāne hapū of Ngāti Meroiti, Ngāti Moe, Ngāti Tauiao and Ngāti Tūkoko.

The name Pāpāwai means 'the tears of mother earth'. The marae is listed as a wāhi tūpuna (place important to Māori for its ancestral significance and associated cultural and traditional values) by Heritage New Zealand.

History

Large two-storeyed house built for meetings of the Māori Parliament at Pāpāwai, 1897

Pāpāwai was established in the 1850s, when the government set aside land for a Māori settlement near Greytown. At the time, the area had a flour mill, school, and newspaper, Te Puke ki Hikurangi.

The settlement experienced rapid growth under the leadership of Hāmuera Tamahau Mahupuku in the 1880s. The whare tūpuna (meeting house), Hikurangi, was built in 1888. The marae is surrounded by 18 tōtara whakairo (carved figures), which represented famous individuals at the time, including leader Nukupewapewa and the local Pākehā settler, William Mein Smith. Uniquely, the figures faced inwards to represent peace between Māori and Pākehā, rather than looking outwards as they traditionally would.

Group standing at the opening of the large two-storeyed complex in 1897. Richard Seddon stands to the left of the group.

A larger, T-shaped building was established beside Hikurangi in time for hosting Te Kotahitanga sittings. This building was composed of two sections. Aotea was a large meeting hall capable of holding 1,000 people, and Te Waipounamu was a two-storey building with sleeping quarters on the top floor and a wharekai (dining hall) below, able to seat 300.

Meetings for Te Kotahitanga, the Māori parliament movement, were held at Pāpāwai in 1897 and 1898. At this time, the settlement was home to 3,000 residents, and was known as 'the Māori capital'. Notably, a resolution to end Māori land sales was passed during these meetings, and those gathered were visited by Governor Ranfurly and Premier Richard Seddon.

The buildings at Pāpāwai began to fall into disrepair in the 1910s, with the Aotea and Te Waipounamu complex damaged by strong winds in 1934. Conservation work began on the whakairo figures in the 1960s, and in the late 1980s these were fully restored. Hikurangi was moved to become the new meeting house, and the marae is well used by the community today.