5900 Ruatahuna Road, Kaingaroa Forest-Ruatahuna, Whakatane

Te Tii - Ruatahuna

Whakatane Community Halls

On the Google Map it is a gas pump. And that is exactly what Ngai Tuhoe wanted. Their own fuel source. In reality, it is a lot more than that, and growing fast.

Ruatahuna is central to access to the beautiful star in Tuhoe Lands, Lake Waikaremoana, but otherwise not close to much, (it is a 50 kilometre dirt road trip to Muruapara) which is why the gas pump has so much meaning.

The newly constructed community building, Te Tii, not by accident, goes by the same name as the Marae at Waitangi. Ngai Tuhoe are the Iwi whom never ceded to the Crown. They did qualify for a Treaty settlement in 2013. Immediately following that, Tuhoe put their stamp on their northern reaches of their lands, with the building of Te Uru Taumata, (also known as Te Kura Whare) at Taneatua and then spectacular new visitor centre at Waikaremoana.

Now Ruatahuna, a southern and central base for the Bay of Plenty Iwi is under development. Included in Te Tii are a cafe, public conveniences, a laundry, the things wilderness travellers need, and needed by the People of the Mist too. Sustainability is key in the construction, with the Iwi Authority deciding a communal laundry is better than individual laundries, and maximising other environmental measures that also promote inclusive community living. A second building, called Te Kura Tangata is for Iwi offices and related businesses like the local radio station. The internal walls are made with thermal river mud panels.

Another intention here is to create sustainable housing, already begun with the construction of four sustainable villas alongside the community building. The wider Iwi strategy involves much more of this, (papakainga) and tourism is also part of their evolving plan.

Ruatahuna already had a fascinating history, for such a small and far flung place. It was the base for Te Kooti and Rua Kenana, the spiritual leaders of Tuhoe during the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s and 1870s. Essentially it was the place that the Maori did not give up. A symbolic meeting house called Te Whai a te Motu (The pursuit through the Island) was built in 1888, and rebuilt in 1910. It is still the primary meeting house. The road did not reach here until 1901, and the missionaries came in 1917, some 80 years after their first incursion into the lands of other Iwi. However the Presbyterian Church were welcomed, as they ran a school here for decades, educating children and adults.

Later Fletchers invited themselves to Ruatahuna, operating a forestry mill in 1956 until 1974. One of the few roads here is still named 'Fletchers Settlement', as the company had put up housing here.

Things went quiet for a while at Ruatahuna, as beautifully illustrated by 'Heartland' in 1995, before a phase of conflict with the government, culminating in the 'Terror Raids' in 2007 when the New Zealand Government used new Terrorism Supression laws to raid the tribe. Now things have taken a new turn, and Tuhoe are certain they are on the up, with Te Tii, their third big, sustainable community project.

Connections are improving too - you can travel the dirt road to Murupara on a new bus service on Fridays, and an Opus pilot scheme for sealing the roads with pine tree resin is underway.

Image Credit: Ngai Tuhoe

Location

Directions

Nearby this Place

Explore