Puhikererū (Mt Furneaux) 

The scared maunga of Puhikererū is also of great significance to Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō because of its association with Kupe.

Puhikererū overlooks Te Anamāhanga (Port Gore). Its name (“plume of the pigeon”) evokes the kererū that were found here, the appearance of the clouds as they come over the maunga, and also recalls a tipuna particularly associated with this place.

When Kupe came to Aotearoa, he brought two birds with him named Rupe and Kawau-a-toru. The task of these birds was, among other things, to seek out the fruits of the forest and determine currents. When Kupe settled at Rimurapa (Sinclair Head, on the northern shores of Te Moana o Ngā Raukawakawa), his birds flew to Te Waipounamu and alighted on Puhikererū. Rupe joined the local pigeons in feasting on the abundant forest food of the maunga and its environs, and never returned to Kupe.

Puhikererū was an important mahinga kai for Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō residing at Anamāhanga and elsewhere. It was a place where kererū could be found in abundance, feeding on karaka, miro and other berries.

Rotoiti

Ngāti Apa trace their earliest connection to Lake Rotoiti (small waters) from their ancestor Kupe. According to Ngāti Apa tradition, Rotoiti and Rotoroa are the eye-sockets of Te Wheke-a-Muturangi, which Kupe chased across the Pacific, eventually slaying it at the entrance to Kura Te Au (Tory Channel) and plucking out its eyes.

Together, Rotoiti and Rotoroa are the source of five important waterways — the Kawatiri, Motueka, Motupiko, Waiau-toa and Awatere rivers — and served as the central terminus of a series of well-known and well-used tracks (“the footprints of the tīpuna”) linking Kurahaupō communities in the Wairau, Waiau-toa (Clarence River), Kaituna, Whakatū, Te Tai o Aorere (Tasman Bay), Mohua (Golden Bay) and the Kawatiri district.

 

A Ngāti Apa pepeha relating to the lakes illustrates the iwi’s connection with the area and Kehu:

Ko Kehu te maunga

Ko Kawatiri te awa

Ko Rotoroa me Rotoiti ngā roto

Ko Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō te iwi

Ko Kehu te tangata

 

The lakes area was a rich mahinga kai, including birds (kiwi, South Island kōkako, piopio, pīwauwau (bush wren) and whio (blue duck), kiore, tuna (eels), inanga, fern root and the root of the tī kōuka (cabbage tree), and berries of the miro, tawa, kahikatea and tōtara.

But it is the shrub neinei that is of particular significance. Only found in the lakes area, neinei was — and still is — highly valued by Ngāti Apa as a material to make korowai.

Pahi found in this area are another reflection of the unique identity of Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō. Pahi, or huts, constructed by Ngāti Apa were of a distinctive design, and served as both seasonal and more permanent shelter.

Rotoroa

Ngāti Apa trace their earliest connections to Lake Rotoroa (large waters) from their ancestor Kupe – according to Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō pūrākau, Rotoiti and Rotoroa are the eye sockets of the taniwha Te Wheke-a-Muturangi.

This area formed the central hub of a series of well-known and well-used trails linking Ngāti Apa to communities in the Wairau, Waiau-toa (Clarence River), Kaituna, Whakatū, Tasman Bay, Mohua (Golden Bay) and the Kawatiri district.

Later, the region was used as a refuge for the tribe during the northern invasions and formed a secure base for warriors who continued to defend their rohe, particularly in the Whakatū area.

A rich mahinga kai, including birds, kiore, inanga and tuna, Rotoroa was also the site of extensive and well-established fern gardens, or tawaha, planted by our tīpuna high on the northern slopes above Rotoroa. This provided a good source of aruhe or fern-root, a staple food until the introduction of the potato.

The gardens were described by European visitors to the region in the 1840s and are still visible today.

 

 

Ethnographer Elsdon Best noted in 1902 that aruhe from these inland areas was much better than that harvested from the coast. Before it could be eaten, aruhe required a lot of preparation and was often mixed with plant extracts and additives to make both sweet and savoury dishes.

In the Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō Deed of Settlement there is a clause that recognises our unique connection to both Rotoroa and Rotoiti and the tuna within, and allows us to harvest tuna for special cultural hui.

This short film by Keelan Walker documents whānau as they embark on their annual customary tuna harvest from at Rotoroa.