Rangiātea Church
A translation of an essay entitled
'Te Whare Karakia o Rangiātea'

Introduction

On 7 October 1995, Rangiātea Church, in Ōtaki, caught fire and burnt down. The local iwi are now concerned with understanding the meaning of the fire, and so Rangiātea and its history has been researched, revisited and uncovered in an attempt to explain its burning. Te Rauparaha and his famous ōhaaki was recalled, as were the deeds of Octavius Hadfield, the Ōtaki missionary who was central to the building of Rangiātea. His successors, who assisted and ministered at Rangiātea, have been remembered. It was quickly understood that although the physical structure of Rangiātea no longer exists, its inner purpose has not disappeared.

Last year, 1996, the National Library entered a partnership with Te Rōpū Whakahaere o Rangiātea to curate a major exhibition on Rangiātea and its history. This essay has been written in the context of the exhibition.

The purpose here is to:

write a broad outline of the history of Rangiātea, and record a few of the stories concerning Rangiātea that have not been recorded in the past, where families are happy for them to be recorded.

The author, therefore, has approached Kiripuai Te Aomārere and Ngārongo Iwikātea Nicholson, both of the Ngāti Huia section of Ngāti Raukawa, and is grateful for their assistance. Rupene Morehu Waaka, of Ngāti Raukawa, and Te Utauta Hau, of Ngāti Toa, also provided some key material. A number of significant parts of the essay that follows is attributed to them. Some previously unrecorded interpretations have also been included, to assist the ongoing discussion concerning Rangiātea, the institution.

It is not possible to cover the entire history of Rangiātea in this short essay; it is designed, therefore, to be a companion to The Rangiātea Story by Hōhepa Tāepa, and Rangiātea: The Story of Ōtaki's Māori Church by Eric Ramsden.

Rangiātea in Māori Tradition
Never will be lost, the seed sown at Rangiātea...[34]

The first appearance of the name Rangiātea in Māori history lies in the tradition entitled 'Te Pikinga o Tānenuiārangi' or 'Tānenuiārangi's ascent'. According to the Wairarapa tohunga Nēpia Pōhuhu...[35], Tāne was a son of Ranginui (sky father) and Papatūānuku (earth mother), and it was he who ascended to the highest heavens to receive the baskets of knowledge and the mauri (life force) of the whare wānanga (school of higher learning) which resides in two stones. These were received from Io, the supreme being of Māori tradition. According to Nēpia Pōhuhu, Rangiātea was the name of the house that Io and Tānenuiārangi entered and the repository of the baskets of knowledge and the mauri of the whare wānanga.

In other versions of this tradition, Tānenuiārangi, after receiving the baskets and the mauri, then descended to the seventh heaven, known as Te Rangi Tamaku, and erected the first whare wānanga of Māori tradition, called Rangiātea. Accordingly, most agree that Rangiātea's origins lay with Io. The Reverend Māori Marsden, a graduate of the 20th-century Tai Tokerau whare wananga, placed great importance upon the mauri of the whare wānanga, which Tāne received from Io...[36]   This will be discussed later.

According to Ramsden, 'Rangiātea is an altar consecrated to Io'...[37]  Hence, the relationship between Io, the concept of the altar and Rangiātea is reinforced. Tānenuiārangi implanted the mauri received from Io as a life force for an altar consecrated to Io. This is reflected in a further quote from Ramsden:

Rangiatea held the ancient shrine at which the people gathered to pray, to offer sacrifice, to render homage to Io, the supreme god in Hawaiki Nui, Hawaiki Roa, Hawaiki Pamamao, te Hono ki Wairua, the land from which the Maoris came...[38]

This view coincides with that of Hone Teri Te Paerata, an elder of Ngāti Raukawa (Ngāti Tūranga) and Ngāti Tūwharetoa. Reverend Tūturu, as he was also known, was a Minister of Rangiātea:

Rangiatea is an altar in Hawaiki. An altar is a very sacred place in Maori tradition and can only be erected by experts. Its purpose was as a site for prayers and incantations...[39]

Consequently, the features of the pre-Christian Rangiātea institution are interconnected with one another: Io, as the originator of knowledge who imparts this knowledge to Tāne, who then erects a whare wānanga as a repository for that knowledge. Rangiātea is the name of this whare wānanga. Central to Rangiātea is the tūāhu, or altar, upon which the ritualistic aspects of the whare wananga are then held. Within the tūāhu is the mauri, or life force, which acts as an agent by which connection with Io is maintained.

Aotearoa

Rangiātea was an institution brought to Aotearoa from Hawaiki and it was established in this country. Hone Teri Te Paerata offers some assistance:

When Hoturoa (captain of Tainui waka) came to this island, he brought with him the soil of Rangiatea. Upon arrival, the soil was brought ashore and used in the erection of an altar at Kawhia in Waikato. In the time of Turongo, a portion of the soil brought by Hoturoa was taken by Turongo to Rangitoto, again in Waikato, where he erected another altar...[40]

Taputapu-ātea is the name of the place in Hawaiki where the soil came from....[41]  According to Pei Te Hurinui, of Ngāti Maniapoto, Rangiātea was the name of a whare wānanga erected by Tāwhao (father of Tūrongo) at Manga-o-Rongo, Rangitoto. When Tūrongo returned from the east coast, he lived there, and Tāwhao established his whare wānanga. This place is considered as the first home of the Ngāti Raukawa people, as this was where Tūrongo and Mahinaarangi lived, and where their son Raukawa was raised. Located there also is Te Marae-o-Hine, the home
of Te Rongorito, a well known granddaughter of Raukawa:

39, 40, 42.Rev Hone Teri Paerata in 'He Kupu Whakamarama' Nama 7, Hepetema 1898, page 4. Fiche: 38/39-2 NATC, Niupepa 1842-1933

41.Adkin 1948, p. 332.

The Journey South

Ngāti Raukawa, who resided at Maungatautari, Ngāti Toarangatira of Kāwhia, and Te Āti Awa of Taranaki, migrated to the south in the time of Te Rauparaha. Rangiatea was a taonga that they brought with them to the lower reaches of the North Island. Again, they employed the soil brought from Hawaiki as a mauri for an altar they were to erect and they named the institution Rangiātea.

A major difference, however, with the movement to the south, was the arrival of Christianity. A new god was now worshipped, but according to the practices of the ancient Rangiātea institution. Hone Teri Te Paerata explains:

In the time of the descendants of Raukawa, the faith arrived in this island. The descendants of Raukawa turned to uphold the faith. They erected a building in which to pray to God and it was named Rangiatea by Te Rauparaha. My analysis of this name is as follows: before the arrival of Christ, the heavens were closed to all people of the world. When Christ was cruci- fied, heaven opened to all people who wished to go there, that is Rangiatea (heaven open). The heaven was open and available and there was no one to stop people going there...[42]

Tarore's Bible

The first time the teachings of the Bible were heard in Ōtaki is discussed by Hōhepa Tāepa in The Rangiatea Story....[43]  He writes of the death of a Waikato woman named Tarore, whose father was Ngākuku. She received a missionary Christian education and became a devout Christian as an adult. However, she was killed at a place called Te Wairere, in Tauranga, and her Bible, which she use to wear around her neck, was taken to Rotorua by a man named Te Uira. It was then taken by a man named Ripahau to Ōtaki, and it was here that Tāmihana Te Rauparaha and Mātene Te Whiwhi first began to read the Bible, the first time it had been read in Ōtaki.

Tāmihana Te Rauparaha and Mātene Te Whiwhi Seek Christ's Authority

It is interesting to consider the journey made by Tāmihana and Mātene to the Bay of Islands in the light of the traditional custom of journeying to seek the authority of a particular god, a custom common in traditional Maori society. For example, Pei Te Hurinui and Bruce Biggs write of a man called Tāwhiakiterangi of Ngāti Mahuta. They explain that he went to Waingaro (Waikato) to see a tohunga and petition for the mana (authority) of a god to assist him in his endeavours.

He went to Wai-ngaro... At that place he asked a priest to provide him with power. The lake was the repository of the power... he told Taawhia to complete his preparations and when he was travelling along the river, at the appointed place the power come upon him...[44]

Another example is that of Tāwhiao, the second Māori King, who went to Ngāti Ruanui, in Taranaki, to seek the Pai Mārire god. Ruka Broughton writes as follows:

The King and his group arrived at Ahipaipa, Ōkaiawa... Tāwhiao and Te Haumene went to the niu, that is the pole where the Pai Mārire prayers take place. The prayers entitled the 'tuhi mareikura' (the designs of the celestial female beings) then took place. The purpose of these prayers is to pass on that God's authority to Methuselah (Tāwhiao)...[45]

There are some interesting comparisons to be made with respect to the journey taken by Mātene and Tāmihana, and the pre-Christian practice of obtaining the mana or authority of an atua or god. It is the author's view that Mātene and Tāmihana made the journey to bring the mana of Christ to Ōtaki, and more specifically, to reside at the new Rangiātea, in keeping with the pre-Christian custom of obtaining the 'mana' of a god.

Hadfield Arrives in Kapiti

Octavius Hadfield arrived in Wellington on 7 November 1839....[46] He journeyed overland to Waikanae, where he was welcomed by Te Āti Awa at their pā, called Kenakena. By 1843, a church had been built. Ramsden...[47]  states that Ngāti Raukawa supplied the tree that was used as ridge pole for the church. This was a gesture of reconciliation, as the two tribes had been at war (Te Kūititanga) previous to Hadfield's arrival in 1839.

When it was resolved to build a good church at Waikanae, as totara for some parts of the building could not be obtained there, he [Te Rauparaha] agreed that it should be procured from a forest preserve of his at Otaki. He went there with me and selected some of the finest trees. He encouraged his people in their work. As it was impossible to complete our work there that day we determined to pass the night in the forest, and we prepared to sleep there comfortably by the side of a large fire which he had kindled. He said he did not sleep much and would take care to keep the fire well supplied with fuel. He sat talking for a long time, and seemed greatly pleased that we had felled one good tree suitable for the ridge-piece of the church of his former enemies the Ngati Awa...[48]

The Waikanae church was, therefore, built with the assistance of Te Rauparaha, and demonstrates his capacity for reconciliation. The Waikanae church was the first on the coast. It was a significant achievement early in Hadfield's tenure as a missionary in Kapiti, and some say that the idea for building Rangiātea arose during the erection of this first church.

Te Rauparaha's Imprisonment

It was Te Rauparaha who first thought of building Rangiātea. His people, of Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa and Te Āti Awa, had migrated to the southern reaches of the North Island and the northern reaches of the South Island. Although the migration took place upon the same cultural motivations of Māori migrations from time immemorial, it was never completely free from European influence, even at its very beginning. Te Rauparaha had travelled with a Ngā Puhi and Ngāti Whātua expedition to the south and they arrived at Turakirae, a headland on the east coast of Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington Harbour). It was here that the expedition sighted a ship, said to be Bellinghausen's, and that Ngā Puhi urged Te Rauparaha to migrate to the south and trade with European traders....[49]

In 1839, the New Zealand Company's ship Tory anchored off Kapiti, bringing Wakefield and others to purchase land. This was the beginning of the European hunger for Māori land. When Europeans arrived in the lower North Island, Ngāti Toa had only recently conquered these districts; the last battle, at Waiorua on Kapiti Island, was in 1824....[50]

Ngāti Toa were unwilling to lose large tracts of their hard-fought-for land. To do so was to risk accusations of abandoning their dead, those who had fought and died in the campaigns to conquer the south. Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata therefore protested land sales in Rangitīkei and Manawatū. At this time, Wellington had been sold and European settlement was rapidly increasing. This expansion of European settlement met with resistance from Ngāti Toa, resulting in the conflicts at Wairau and the Hutt Valley. Wairau, particularly, was the venue for an incident that served to increase the European fear of Ngāti Toa in general and Te Rauparaha specifically. At that incident, 22 Europeans were ritualistically killed by Te Rangihaeata in retaliation for the killing of his wife, Te Rongo. Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata were protesting the surveying of lands at Wairau, and a group of untrained settlers, acting as the constabulary, were sent to arrest them. The result was a tragic confrontation where Māori and Pākehā were killed, when diplomacy could have saved the day. Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata were accused of murder for their actions at Wairau, and the Ngāti Toa tribe was demonised by a paranoid European population....[51]

Soon after this, George Grey became Governor and hatched a plan to silence Te Rauparaha and Te Rangihaeata. Following the conflict in the Hutt Valley, Te Rangihaeata was exiled to Poroutawhao, in Horowhenua. On 22 July 1846, Grey ordered the ship Driver to sail past Te Rauparaha's pa (Taupō) at Plimmerton, to give the impression that it was travelling to Whanganui. On the morning of the 23rd, the ship returned with 200 soldiers under the command of Major D S Durie. Te Rauparaha and a number of other Ngāti Toa leaders, including Te Kanae and Tāmaihengia, were arrested.

Much has been said and written about Te Rauparaha's arrest and not all can be recorded here. However, it is important to remember that Te Rauparaha was arrested and illegally detained on 23 July 1846, and was not released by Grey until January 1848. Hence, he was held without trial for 18 months. According to Te Utauta Hau, Grey had imprisoned Te Rauparaha on a 'trumped-up charge' of treason, citing a letter that Te Rauparaha had supposedly written to Maungatautari, seeking a force of Ngāti Raukawa to come to the south and fight the Europeans. Te Rauparaha was never formally charged for this, nor for any other charge....[52] His prison ship was moored off Kapiti for a period in order to demonstrate Grey's hold over Te Rauparaha and his people.

Many songs have been composed about Te Rauparaha's imprisonment. A song by Te Rangihaeata goes as follows:

Kapiti's shadow is left as a remnant. Yes, my only friend is my homeland. My heart palpitates. By Tūmatapongia, by Tūmatawarea, your heart was off its guard and you were captured. The huia sleeps, The kōtuku weeps, upon Tītere. A current that holds the albatross....[53]

Tūmatapongia and Tūmatawarea are prayers for invisibility and Te Rangihaeata berates Te Rauparaha for not using these prayers. When Te Rauparaha was finally returned to Ōtaki, he was accompanied by many chiefs from throughout the country, including Te Amohau of Te Arawa, Tāmati Waaka Nene of Ngā Puhi, Tarāia of Ngāti Tamaterā, and Te Wherowhero of Waikato.

Te Rauparaha's Statement and the Sacred Soil of Rangiātea

Te Rauparaha's imprisonment can be compared to that of Te Kooti Arikirangi of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, who was imprisoned on the Chatham Islands. While he was there, Te Kooti had a number of visions upon which the Ringatū Church was subsequently founded. It is the author's view that Te Rauparaha, too, had visions while he was in exile for 18 months, and the expression of these visions is found in his famous statement, made to Te Pohotīraha upon his release.

Te Rauparaha thrust his sword into the ground and said to Te Pohotīraha:

Come, take this weapon!
I no longer survey the land,
I shall survey the heavens.
Build a church for us all....[54]

Te Pohotīraha was a chief of Ngāti Wehiwehi, a people affiliated with Ngati Raukawa. Te Pohotīraha was the custodian of a portion of the soil of Rangiātea that was brought from Hawaiki to Kāwhia, then to Rangitoto. He had brought it to the south, and the purpose of Te Rauparaha's statement was to petition Te Pohotīraha to use the soil as a mauri for the new Rangiātea. Koronīria, of Ngāti Tūkorehe, was the tohunga responsible for the actual implanting of the soil as a mauri....[55]

This implantation of the soil, the mauri, followed the implantation of the same soil at Rangitoto and Kāwhia. The origins of this lay in the tradition concerning Tānenuiārangi, and the baskets and mauri of the whare wananga. Te Rauparaha's idea was to use the same soil as a mauri for a new tūāhu, or altar, to be called Rangiātea.

Tribal Support for Rangiātea

Following the agreement to build Rangiātea, much discussion took place about what to call the new building. The name Rangiātea was chosen, but as it was a name which all iwi Māori could claim a relationship to, it was considered imperative that all tribes were approached for their support. A travelling party was therefore convened to seek this. Little is known about the actual journey, however the arrival into Ngāti Porou territory, and their subsequent support, is remembered in the following expression:

You have the powder pouch,
I have the rock upon which the paua adheres
which will shine and glitter in your new house....[56]

This story is not well known and has never been publicly recorded. A reference to it does appear in a song by Te Haina for Rangiātea and published in Ramsden's book Rangiatea: The Story of Otaki's Maori Church....[57]

The Kauri-Bearing Tides: Felling the Logs for Rangiātea

The trees that were used for the building of Rangiātea were found at Pukeatua, near Ōhau. This land belonged to Ngāti Tukorehe, a people closely related to Ngāti Wehiwehi and affiliated to Ngāti Raukawa. Their tohunga, Koronīria, presided over the felling of the trees by the use of appropriate karakia. They were then floated down the ohau River. Koroniria was a son of the Ngāti Tūkorehe chief, Te Rangiwhakaripa.

According to Ngāti Pareraukawa and Ngāti Huia tradition,...[58] Mātene Te Whiwhi was responsible for the karakia once the logs reached the open sea. The tradition records that prior to the felling of the logs, Te Rangihaeata did not support the project. He said, 'I must agree first.' He was very unhappy with the encroachment of Europeans upon his territories and he saw Rangiātea as encouraging this. When the time came to fell the logs, Te Rauparaha told Mātene to go and see Te Rangihaeata at Poroutāwhao. Mātene went, and Te Rangihaeata said to him, 'Go do this work. Take Te Whatanui's daughter with you to clear the pathway.' Mātene then went and got Tauteka (Te Whatanui's daughter) and the two together saw to the transportation of the logs along the sea coast.

Tauteka was a sister of Waretini Tuainuku, hence a daughter of Tuainuku and Hinepūororangi. She was a foster daughter of Te Whatanui. Tauteka subsequently married Mātene Te Whiwhi, and they had a foster child, Mātene's granddaughter, named Te Miringa. They had no children of their own. After Mātene died, Tauteka fostered another child, her sister Whāwhā's grandson, named Mātene Te Whiwhi Winiata.

Te Arawa Assist with the Building of Rangiātea

The logs were floated to Ōtaki and the construction began. The local people were assisted by expert Te Arawa carvers and builders. These people included Ngāti Tuarā, Ngāti Whakaue and Tūhourangi, all of Te Arawa. Some of their chiefs who came to the south included Te Tūāhu, Mita Taupopoki and Pētera Te Pukuatua. Te Rauparaha's senior wife, Te Akau, was of these people, and this relationship was one of the reasons for Te Arawa's assistance in the building of Rangiātea.

The Ministers of Rangiātea

The following list contains the names of those who ministered at Rangiātea, the dates of their ministry and their tribal affiliations. The first six Māori ministers to be ordained in New Zealand were all drawn from the local iwi. They were taught by Octavius Hadfield at the Kapiti mission and attended the theological school known as Te Raukahikatea, which stood at Waerenga-a-Hika in Gisborne. They were Hadfield's assistants in his work at Rangiātea.

1849 - 1870 Octavius Hadfield, Priest in charge

1849 - 1853 The Reverend Samuel Williams

1865 - 1866 The Reverend Rīwai Te Ahu (Te Āti Awa)

1866 - 1867 The Reverend Amos Knell

1868 - 1901 The Reverend James McWilliam

1872 - 1882 The Reverend Rāwiri Te Wanui (Ngāti Maiōtaki, Ngāti Raukawa)

1894 - 1901 The Reverend Hone Teri Te Paerata (Ngāti Tūranga, Ngāti Raukawa)

1901 - 1907 The Reverend Ārona Te Hana (Ngāti Ngārongo, Ngāti Raukawa)

1901 - 1908 The Reverend Te Iwiora Tamaiparea (Ngā Rauru)

1916 - 1918 The Reverend Mētera Te Aomarere (Ngāti Huia, Ngāti Raukawa)

1908 - 1933 The Reverend Temuera Tokoaituā (Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa)

1933 - 1952 The Reverend Canon Pāora Temuera (Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa)

1952 - 1957 The Reverend Hōhepa Tāepa (Te Arawa)

1957 - 1962 The Reverend Āperahama Paraone Kena (Te Uri-o-Hau, Ngati Whatua)

1963 - 1967 The Reverend Hōhepa Tāepa

1968 - 1978 The Archdeacon Te Pura Pānapa (Ngāti Whātua)

1978 - 1980 The Reverend Waha Tauhara (Ngāti Kahu)

1978 - 1981 The Reverend Te Waaka Melbourne (Tuhoe)

1982 - 1987 The Reverend Tīmoti Flavell (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri)

1988 - 1988 The Reverend Raumoa Baker (Ngāti Raukawa)

1989-1990 The Reverend Tiki Raumati (Te Āti Awa)

1991-1992 The Bishop Hāpai Winiata (Ngāti Raukawa)

1993-1994 The Reverend Riki Wītana (Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri)

1994-1997 The Reverend Raumoa Baker (Ngāti Raukawa)

1996-1997 The Reverend Hira Royal (Ngāti Pare, Ngāti Raukawa)

1996 -1997 The Reverend Douin Hāpeta (Ngāti Maiotaki)

1997 - The Canon Lance Robinson

Mētera Te Aomārere was appointed as a minister at Rangiātea, despite his Catholic upbringing. He lived with his family at Katihiku, in Ōtaki and, in 1916, was selected by his people to be a minister at Rangiātea, as the encumbent Temuera Tokoaituā was getting older. There was no Ngāti Raukawa person in training at the time. According to his sister, Kiripuai Te Aomārere, the people decided that Mētera was appropriate, despite his Catholic upbringing. Mētera held the position for only two years, dying in the influenza epidemic of 1918, along with his father. The following is recorded on his headstone in the Rangiātea cemetery:

A son whose people desired greatly to attend Te Raukahikatea...[59] so that he could become a Minister for Ngati Raukawa accord- ing to the tradition of Matene Te Whiwhi which states that Ngati Raukawa has the purple altar cloth upon which the rock to which the paua adheres as an adornment for the house. He was Minister for 2 years, he was 35 years of age.

Tūrongo Church, Moutoa

The third church built in Hadfield's time was Tūrongo, which stood at Moutoa, and now stands at Te Whakawehi Marae, Shannon. According to Tāwhai Eruera,...[60] a Ngāti Tūranga elder of Ngāti Raukawa, this church was first seen in a dream.

An elder, who lived at Tiakitahuna, dreamt that he saw two huge totara trees, one named 'Whanaihu' and another named 'Whanarae'.His dream directed that these trees be used in the erection of another church. The elder arose from his sleep and told his people, who then went in search of these trees. They were found, felled and floated down the Manawatū River to Moutoa (Te Rewarewa).The Ngāti Rangitāne people were responsible for this. Arriving at Moutoa, they were then used (circa 1864-65) in the building of a church named after the father of Raukawa, Tūrongo. In 1920, an earthquake caused the church to lean to one side. Later, in 1963, the local people dismantled it and moved it to its current site upon Whakawehi marae, in Shannon, where the words 'Whanaihu' and 'Whanarae' were recorded upon the church gate.

The Model Canoe Called Tainui and Presented by King Korokī

A model of the ancestral canoe Tainui was held at Rangiātea. It was presented to Ngāti Raukawa by King Koroki in 1950, at a hui held to commemorate 600 years since the arrival of the great canoes of the Māori world. The date of 1350, which is now considered highly questionable, was set by European ethnologists in the early part of this century. Korokī invited all the tribes from throughout the country to attend the 1950 celebration.

Te Puea had asked her carvers to carve a number of model waka, which were then named after the great ancestral waka, such as Te Arawa, Mātaatua, Kurahaupō, and so on. Each of these waka was presented to the representatives of the crew of those waka who attended the 1950 hui. When the Tainui model was considered, the various Tainui tribes met to discuss who was appropriate to receive the waka.

The Hauraki people argued that it should be given to them, as the first arrival point of the waka itself in Tainui territory is in Hauraki. The Kāwhia people argued that because the real Tainui is at Kāwhia, then the model should be sent there.

Following this, Pāora Temuera, the Minister of Rangiātea, addressed the hui:

My chiefs, you have all the treasures of Tainui. I have only one, that is the soil that is now placed under our altar. Give me, Ngati Raukawa, the model of Tainui for a short while so that I and my people might be considered a chiefly people as well....[61]

The Waikato people replied by saying:

Come, take this taonga and return it to its altar.

And so the Tainui model was presented to Ngāti Raukawa, through Pāora Temuera as their representative. It is interesting to note Pāora's use of the custom of whakaiti or humbling oneself to secure the taonga.

A year or so after this event, the model was filled with money and returned to Ngāruawāhia in keeping with Pāora's suggestion that the waka stay with Ngāti Raukawa for a short time only. The Ngāti Raukawa party presented the waka and their koha which the Waikato people then honoured. The money was taken out and the waka was re-presented to Ngāti Raukawa. Te Whetūmārama-o-te-Ata Kereama, of Ngāti Manomano, and Te Hua-o-te-Kawariki Lawton, of Ngāti Kauwhata, were two members of the Ngāti Raukawa party.

Hence, the model of the Tainui canoe made its way to Rangiātea. Fortunately, the waka had been taken to Raukawa Marae for a celebration of the kaumātua group of Te Wānanga-o-Raukawa (Ngā Purutanga Mauri) at the time of the Rangiātea fire, and was therefore not burnt.

The Burning of Rangiātea

Approximately 148 years after the opening of Rangiātea, the church caught fire one night and burnt to the ground. Some say that it was the victim of an arson attack, however no-one has been charged with the offence. Following the burning, many iwi from the around the country sent representatives to mourn the passing of this great taonga. Particularly, representatives from Taranaki were present in a show of solidarity and unity, as their great house Te Raukura had burnt down some years earlier.

Te Raukura was the house of the great Taranaki prophet and pacifist Te Whiti-o-Rongomai, and it stood at Parihaka, home of Te Whiti's movement. The commonality of the experience was too much to ignore. The following Sunday morning, 9 October 1995, a large group of people, both Māori and Pākehā, gathered at Raukawa marae, both to mourn the loss of Rangiātea and to consider a future building. Expressions of support flooded into Ōtaki from all quarters and the spirit of co-operation and reconciliation that saw its construction was
once again renewed.

Te Ahukaramu
Charles Royal