Maraenui Pa

A Pa of Te Whanau a Apanui, with a long and somewhat tragic past. This Bay of Plenty coastline has long been populated by Hapu of Te Whanau a Apanui, this one is called Te Whanau a Hikarukutai. Children from this Pa used to attend the school at Omaio, to the north, from Monday to Friday. During floods their transport over the Motu river was by canoe.

In 1900, an accident saw 16 children and two adults of the Pa lose their lives in this river crossing. The monumentto commemorate this was unveiled five years later by Taa Timi Kara, Minister of Maori Affairs. For this event, a dining shelter was built. Thirty years later it was still in use, and a fundraising drive for a proper Whare Kai (food house) was begun. The suggestion by Sir Apirana Ngata that it be dedicated to all fallen Maori Soldiers from the Boer and two World Wars stuck and, finally, in 1956, the memorial dining hall was opened.

This Pa is also associated with the Ringatu movement, with another memorial here (1938) to the Ringatu leader Erueti Koopu.

Image Credits: David Baldock, Photographer. A New Zealand Bishop on tour: The Bishop of Waiapu enjoying his morning toilet at Chief House at Maraenui, a native settlement near Opotiki, Bay of Plenty 10 April 1913. Maori Memorial: The Hon J Carroll, Native Minister, unveiling the Memorial Stone erected at Maraenui, Opotiki, March 23, 1905 - Auckland Libraries Sir George Grey Special Collection.