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| Kaiapoi Pā | |
|---|---|
 The monument on the pā site that was installed in 1898 | |
.jpg) A map of the pā drawn in 1870 | |
| Type | Pā |
| Location | Canterbury, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | 43°18′18″S 172°41′22″E / 43.30499°S 172.68957°E / -43.30499; 172.68957 |
| Founded | c. 1700 |
| Owner | Ngāi Tahu |
Kaiapoi Pā is a historic pā site just north of the Waimakariri River in Canterbury, New Zealand. The pā was a major centre of trade and nobility for Ngāi Tahu in the Classical Māori period.
Established around 1700, the pā was sacked in 1832 by Ngāti Toa warriors led by Te Rauparaha. Today the pā site is a memorial reserve and is a tapu site significant to local iwi. The nearby town of Kaiapoi takes its name from the pā.
History
Ngāi Tahu pā site
Kaiapoi pā was established around the year 1700 by the Ngāi Tahu chief Tūrākautahi. Eventually to become the largest fortified village in the South Island, it lay on the site of a stronghold of an earlier tribe, Waitaha whose history and traditions Ngāi Tahu eventually adopted. Tūrākautahi was the second son of Tūāhuriri, consequently Ngāi Tūāhuriri is the name of the hapu (subtribe) of this area.
The pā was a major centre of trade for Ngā Tahu. All manner of resources were transported along the waterways of the Ashley River / Rakahuri and Taerutu swamp on their way to or from Kaiapoi, including: pounamu from the Arahura River, tītī (muttonbird) from the islands around Stewart Island / Rakiura, and obsidian from Mayor Island / Tuhua.
Conflict with Te Rauparaha
The pā is often mistakenly called Kaiapohia, which can be considered an insult to local Ngāi Tūāhuriri whose ancestors died in the pā after they were besieged by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa allies in 1832. The first attack made against Ngāi Tahu was at Kaikōura during 1827–28. Ngāi Tahu records state that the Ngāti Kurī people of Kaikōura came down to the beach to welcome their kinsmen, the hapu of Tū-te-pākihi-rangi of Ngāti Kahungunu, whom they were expecting as visitors. Instead, they found the fleet of canoes belonging to Ngāti Toa who, armed with muskets, attacked and killed them. Te Rauparaha and his tribes then visited Ngāi Tahu of Kaiapoi to trade muskets for pounamu. The Kaiapoi people soon learned of the attacks on their kin at Kaikōura and a Ngāpuhi warrior staying with Ngāi Tahu at Kaiapoi pā overheard the Ngāti Toa leader planning how they would attack the following morning. Already angered by the desecration of his recently dead aunt's grave Tama-i-hara-nui ordered a retaliatory attack the following day, killing the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs, including Te Pēhi Kupe. The only prominent Ngāti Toa leader not slain was Te Rauparaha. Te Rauparaha returned to Kapiti Island to plan his revenge. In early November 1830, he persuaded Captain John Stewart of the brig Elizabeth to hide him and his warriors on board. They then visited the Ngāi Tahu people of Takapūneke near present-day Akaroa under the ruse of trading for flax. Captain Stewart persuaded Te Maiharanui to board the brig and be taken below deck, where Te Rauparaha and his men took the chief, his wife and his daughter prisoner. Te Rauparaha's men then surged ashore to sack Takapūneke. The brig returned to Kapiti with Te Maiharanui and his family held captive.
It is said that rather than see his daughter enslaved, Tama-i-hara-nui strangled her and threw her overboard. Te Rauparaha then gave Tama-i-hara-nui to the wife of the Ngāti Toa chief Te Pēhi, who killed Tama-i-hara-nui by slow torture. His wife suffered the same fate.
Te Rauparaha then mounted a major expedition against Kaiapoi Ngāi Tahu in the summer of 1831–32. Ngāi Tahu, lacking muskets to repel the armed Ngāti Toa, took a defensive strategy and hoped that Ngāti Toa would not be able to penetrate the wooden palisades surrounding the pā. The ensuing siege lasted for three months. However, during a skirmish between the two tribes, a shelter caught fire. Fanned by the nor'wester, the palisades quickly ignited, allowing Ngāti Toa warriors to enter the village, capture its leaders and kill the people. Ngāti Toa then attacked the Banks Peninsula tribes, taking the principal fort at Ōnawe, in Akaroa Harbour.
Toponymy
According to Ngāi Tahu tradition, the name was coined by Tūrākautahi. The name has two root words: kai (food) and poi (to swing or toss). When Tūrākautahi was challenged on his chosen location — which provided only eels and water fowl but not any other food — he determined that food could be brought in from surrounding settlements. The name reflects Kaiapoi's ] as a centre of trade and economics for the iwi.
The name of the pā is often mistakenly given as "Kaiapohia", but the origin of this name was a curse against Ngāi Tahu by Ngāti Toa. Before embarking on his final raid on the pā, Te Rauparaha consulted with the Te Āti Awa ] Kukurarangi, who made a prophecy:
He aha te hau,
He uru, He tonga,
He parera Kai waho e,
Nau mai ra e Raha,
Kia kite koe i te Ahi,
I Papakura ki Kaiapohia
What is the wind?
It is north-east, it is south,
It is east in the offing, oh!
Come then, O Rauparaha!
That you may see the fire,
On the crimson flat of Kaiapohia.
—Kukurarangi, Te Ati Awa, Kapiti Island 1831
The final word — Kaiapohia — is a pun, which in this context can be translated as "piling up of bodies for eating". The roots are kai and the verb apo (to gather together, with a connotation of greediness). The passivating verb ending -hia is used, which is an indicator of the word's North Island origins. This name was popularised in historical accounts by the Reverand Stack, who asserted it was the correct name, used it as the title of his book on the siege, and used the name in the monument on the pā site. However, there are no records of any Ngāi Tahu chiefs of the nineteenth century using the name, and indeed when asked in 1879, Waruwarutu said, "It is the ignorance of the northern Māoris which has induced them to call it Kaiapohia." Stack had learned the Māori language in the North Island, and he described the southern name of Kaiapoi as "unmusical".
References
Bibliography
- Evison, Harry (1993), Te Wai Pounamu, The Greenstone Island: A history of the southern Māori during the European colonization of New Zealand, Christchurch: Aoraki Press, ISBN 9780908925070
- Evison, Harry (2006), The Ngai Tahu Deeds: A window on New Zealand history, Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, ISBN 978-1-877257-39-1, OCLC 1045715874
- Stack, James West (1893), Kaiapohia: The story of a siege, Christchurch & Dunedin: Whitcombe & Tombs, ISBN 9780958343886
Citations
- "2. The move south – Ngāi Tahu – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Teara.govt.nz. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
- "History of the Kaiapoi Pa". Waimakariri Libraries. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- Evison 1993, p. 4.
- ^ Evison 1993, p. 476.