Community Contributed

Tirotiro-whetu Kainga, Ohau

Kete Horowhenua2020-03-23T16:51:22+00:00
The first established village of the Ngati­ Tukorehe and Ngati-Te Rangi hapu of Ngati-Raukawa when these people came down to settle in the Horo-whenua area allotted to them, viz., between the lower courses of the Ohau and Wai-kawa rivers and inland to the ranges.
LocationMap VI Adkin

The village was situated close to the beach at the last bend of the Ohau River where it formerly turned south to junction with the Wai-kawa River.

At the time of its establishment the spot was a pleasant one fixed with grass and other vegetation; now it is a waste of bare sand, but large accumulations of shell-midden refuse still mark the site.

The place was remembered (in 193 5) by old Heremaia Rangi­tawhia, the last surviving member of Ngati-Te Rangi hapu; except for this source of information it would never have been recorded. In his declining years this courteous old gentleman lived in a little cottage on the south side of the Ohau river near its mouth - a mile distant from the site of Tirotiro-whetu.