|
How did Mauao get his name?
There was once a nameless hill. He was a pononga or slave to a majestic mountain called Otanewainuku. Nearby there lived a hill called Puwhenua, she was adorned in many different colours and shades of Tanemahuta, the God of the Forest. The nameless one desired the heart of Puwhenua, but alas her heart had already been won by Otanewainuku. So in deep despair he decided to drown himself in Te Moananui-a-Kiwa, the Pacific Ocean. So he called upon his friends the Patupaiarehe fairy people who dwelt in the dark recesses of the forest. The Patupaiarehe were people of the night and possessed magical powers and the nameless one knew with their help he could fulfill his wish. When night fell, they embraced the nameless one with ropes and began to heave and pull, the Earth shuddered as the Patupaiarehe wrenched this nameless one from his standing place. They pulled him along carving a valley as they went. As he slowly journeyed towards the ocean the nameless one panted and sobbed saying “ka haere, ka mapu” meaning “I go and cry/sob”, his tears became a river which flows to this day called the Waimapu River. So crying and sobbing he continued his journey to the sea. As they approached the ocean he could feel the tangy salt spray of the ocean and hear the waves crashing on the beach. Unfortunately however, the Patupaiarehe were so engaged in their task that they had completely lost track of time, as they approached their final destination the sun began to slowly creep up over the horizon. The rays of the sun lit up the sky. The Patupaiarehe melted away and left the nameless one at the place that he now stands. He then became known as ‘Mauao' which translates to ‘Caught by the Dawn'.
Early History
Ngati Ranginui and Waitaha were the original occupants of Mauao building an immense Pa on the mountain. Waitaha lived on the ocean beach side and Ngati Ranginui on the harbour side of the mountain. Ngaiterangi Iwi conquered the mountain in c.1700AD at the Battle of Kokowai following which time a few Ngaiterangi hapu settled around its base. Mauao was abandoned by Ngaiterangi following the murder of a large number of their people there in 1820. It is said more than 400 people were killed with a further 260 taken prisoner. Mauao then became a wahi tapu or sacred area. Despite this, the NZ Government forcibly acquired ownership of the mountain in the late 1800's by forcing owners to pay for expensive surveys of the land. Many could not afford to pay for these expenses and were therefore compelled to sell their interests to extinguish debt. It is also known that the Local Authority of the time petitioned parliament to take the land so it could be used as a recreational reserve. ‘Fossicking' by European settlers also desecrated the mountain. |
|
 |
|
Mauao is the most sacred landmark to the three iwi of Tauranga Moana; Ngaiterangi, Ngati Ranginui and Ngati Pukenga and is why these Iwi resist any commercial development on the Mountain. | |
