Maori Pa

Hemi and Huria Matenga became the owners of the land which has normally been referred to as the Maori Pa. It would appear that North Island tribes occupied this land prior to invasion by Te Rauparaha's followers about 1828 or 1830. The invading Ngatitoa dragged their canoes overland from Elaine Bay to Croisille's Harbour and attacked the Pa from the sea. The Ngatiapa folk residing in the area were massacred at the end of the long sandspit, Tuarawhati peninsula, near where the Maori cemetery is situated and human bones are still to be found where the massacre took place. It was after this fight that the Ngatitama tribe occupied the area, and some who had settled in Golden Bay, later moved back to Wakapuaka.

A son of Te Puoho, the great fighting chief, Wi Katene Te Puoho, was the head man over this warlike clan. He was also known as E. page 27Manu. A daughter of his was Huria, later Julia Matenga, wife of Hemi Matenga, who took the English names of Julia and James Martin. It can be fairly claimed that Huria was chieftainess of high rank. Her husband, Hemi Matenga and his brother, Wi Parata Kakakura, at one time a Maori Minister, were the sons of a famous Maori chieftainess who married one of the early whalers at Kapiti. Hemi was educated at the Native College in Auckland under Bishop Selwyn. Hemi and Huria had no children of their own but cared for many children of others.

Most of the other Maori families left the district and Huria and Hemi had control of the entire Native Reserve. During his lifetime Hemi Matenga was a well known figure in the Nelson district. He largely adopted European ways and erected substantial buildings on his land. After his death the property was run for many years as the Hemi Matenga Estate and it is only in recent years that it has bean cut up into a number of farms.

Between the homestead site and the coast there is a narrow strip of land, known as Nuku Nuku, which is still the property of the Maori people. Early maps simply showed this as 'Maori Paddock'. This would appear to be anything from 12 to 20 acres in extent and it must be apparent that it should be maintained as a reserve. No doubt any suggestion of a transfer of this land would be a long drawn out procedure as several generations of descendants from the original owners would all have to agree before any transfer could be made.

The whole of the Tuarawhati Peninsula is now privately owned including the old cemetery but it must be apparent that at least some of this area should be preserved for historical reasons.