Toenga o Te Aro - remains of Te Aro Pa

The first Wellingtonians were not Wakefield's settlers who arrived on wooden ships from England, they were Ngati Ruanui and Taranaki Iwi who arrived by land via Taranaki, many centuries ahead of the white man and made a home very different to the Nation's capital that came later.

Their settlement was named Te Aro (Pa) and would be unrecognisable to the eye accustomed to modern day Wellington. A very physical reason for the difference is that during the time of tumultuous change, when Pakeha were striving to take over the harbourside area, the 1855 earthquake uplifted the land, changed the shoreline, the wetlands, and the natural features upon which Te Aro Pa was built.

A peaceful place for the Tangata Whenua, Te Aro was not a fortified pa, as it had no need to be. Relationships with their Te Atiawa cousins at nearby Pipitea Pa were good. Te Aro was a collection of Punga homes, with a population of about 800 when the Pakeha first arrived. There was a beautiful beach, a little to the north of where Wakefield Street now sits, wetlands to the west, which were rich food-gathering grounds, and a hill lookout named Puke Ahu. This Hill, named Mt Cook by the settlers has reverted to it's original name in recent years. A dominating natural feature was the lagoon of the 'Wakefield' Stream, (said to host a Taniwha) which occupied the area below what is now Mt Victoria, down to the harbour. Paintings and photographs by early European arrivals bear resemblance to some parts of the Marlborough Sounds, bush clad and bountiful.

The estimated statistics associated with Te Aro paint a fine picture of Pre-European life. Found was found in the Tui, Ruru and Kereru that lived in the forested hill. The lagoon and other streams were full of eels and inanga and the Iwi had at least seven waka for fishing and travelling upon the harbour. The lower lying areas the Ruanui and Taranaki Iwi people cleared and planted in kumara, spreading their patches all over what is now Wellington City, even as far as Island Bay and Owhiro. The Iwi maintained traditional ownership during the early days of Pakeha arrivals, converting some of thier land to potatoes, wheat and maize, and adding two churches.

William Wakefields plan was to construct the town of Wellington from about 1840, sandwiching it in between the traditional areas of Pipitea and Te Aro. The plan did not include Te Aro Pa or it's people, it was always going to encroach and it didn't take long. The hills were cleared of remaining native bush for their timber, the bird numbers reduced, and the building continued while Maori moved on out. The earthquake gave the Pakeha more free land, and upset the balance of the wetlands and access to the foreshore where the kaimoana were previously gathered. It was in 1874 that the government gave the people of Te Aro no choice but to take a 'Grant' which stripped them of their last 70 acres, and the remaining 180 inhabitants were displaced.

Suddenly, in 2005 a scrap of Te Aro archaeology was unearthed during the demolition of one building and it's replacement. Toenga o Te Aro is the result. An archaeological site, showing very real remains of ponga-built buildings of Te Aro, mabye 200 years old. The site has been nicely preserved, complete with information panels and is open to visit. This is all there is left to see of Te Aro Pa.