Pa-harakeke Pa, Ohau

The occupied area extended along the river-bank for about a quarter of a mile from a large pataka that stood opposite the very acute bend here to a little dune-knoll called Puke-karu.

The inhabitants were the people of the Ngati-Tukorehe hapu of Ngati-Raukawa. When this section of the tribe first arrived in Horo-whenua, they first settled close to the beach just north of the river (Tirotiro-whetu pa), later moving inland to Pa-harakeke.

The name of the pa (to what extent it was fortified is not remembered) was derived from the fact that its site before occupation was dotted about with clumps of tall flax (pa harakeke, literally, `flax clumps' (Phormium tenax), and the leaves of these plants were used in the construction of the walls of the numerous whare. The roofs of these dwellings were, on the other hand, thatched with toetoe (Arundo conspicua) which was a more suitable material for keeping out the rain.

Thus we have the pa of the `flax clumps' as the significance of this name.

The foregoing details were received from Arapata te Hiwi, of Ngati-Tukorehe, and from Heremaia Rangitawhia, of Ngati-Te Rangi - the respective leading men in recent decades of these local hapu of Ngati-Raukawa.

Related Items

• Pa-harakeke Pa - Map VI </ li>