LEWIS WILLIAMS, PHD

That part of our history is something that we‘ll never forget and makes it a very sacred area. In the
first instance that’s what Mauao means to Ngāi Te Rangi.‛
Despite this, the NZ Government forcibly acquired ownership of the mountain under the New
Zealand Settlements Act in 1865 following the battles of Gate Pa and Te Ranga. A total of
290,000 acres in the Tauranga region was confiscated, including Mauao. A process of conversion
from customary tenure to individual title was imposed following confiscation which in
summary served to facilitate the purchase of Mauao blocks through forcing Māori 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 7 .
Mauao remains intimately bound with the lives – past and present - of the many for whom he
has provided:
‚We have sustained ourselves from the kaimoana *sea food+ from the moana around Mauao. Some
of the taonga species we collect there; paua, crayfish, mussels, you know kuku green lipped mussel.
So over time it’s been the pataka kai [pantry or storehouse for food]. It provided the rocky reefs and
the environment for the shellfish to grow in….there also used to be prolific bird life there in the
past‛ (Brian Dickson).
The Maunga is the sacred keeper of the mauri of the iwi and the final resting place of esteemed
Rangatira and other important ancestors 8 . Testimony of this enduring relationship is also borne
by archaeological evidence of storage pits, whalebone clubs and shells found on his slopes.
Mauao is Wahi Tapu. As kuia Maria Ngatai states: ‚That’s wahi tapu up there. You’ve got the shells
to prove it. You climb up and what do you see? You see pipi shells all the way up left there by the people
*our ancestors+ who had pipis there as food‛. For the Tauranga Moana iwi:
7 For example the Waikorire block contained some 71 acres and was granted to 49 members of Ngai Tukairangi in
1881. In March 1887 the Crown secured ownership due to the failure of crops by flood in 1887. Unable to pay the
land tax, members of Ngai Tukairangi were forced to sell their land to the Crown. Minnhinnick, R. A Report on
Mauao – Mount Maunganui. Wai 540-A2Wai 215-A49. 1997. pp 93-96.
8 Stokes, E. (1992). Te Raupatu O Tauranga Moana: Vol 2, Documents relating to the tribal history, Confiscation and
and Reallocation of Tauranga Lands, 1992, 52, ROD, A18.
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