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Kaiapoi Pā
The monument on the pā site was installed in 1898
A map of the pā drawn in 1870
Type	Pā
Location	Canterbury, New Zealand
Coordinates	43°18′18″S 172°41′22″E / 43.30499°S 172.68957°E / -43.30499; 172.68957
Founded	c. 1700
Owner	Ngāi Tahu
Heritage New Zealand – Category 2
Official name	Kaiapohia
Designated	6 June 1994
Reference no.	5733
Heritage New Zealand – Category 2
Official name	Kaiapohia Monument
Designated	9 September 1984
Reference no.	3793

Kaiapoi Pā is a historic pā site just north of the Waimakariri River in Canterbury, New Zealand. The pā was a major centre of trade and nobility for Ngāi Tahu in the Classical Māori period.

Established around 1700, the pā was sacked in 1832 by Ngāti Toa warriors led by Te Rauparaha. Today the pā site is a memorial reserve and is a tapu site significant to local iwi. The nearby town of Kaiapoi takes its name from the pā.

Description

The pā site is just north of modern-day town of Pegasus. Before it was drained by European colonists to create farmland, the area was mostly extensive swamp, with some areas of grassland on higher dry ground.

The pā itself was roughly oblong in shape, angled to run south-west to north-east. The western, northern and eastern sides were surrounded by swamp, with the main entrance via higher ground at the south. The pā was surounded by earthen banks topped with wooden palisades. At the south-eastern side was the Kaitangata gate, behind which was a watchtower. The other two main gates, Hiakarere and Huirapa, were on either side of the south-western corner. Just to the south of this southern palisade was an area devoted to housing and ovens. Just within the walls were the major wharenui which were built to face north. The ahu of the pā was at the northern end, with houses spread across the central area.

At the time of the siege the pā had a population of around 1,000 people.

Today the pā site is an empty field. The remains of the earthworks can still be clearly seen. A large monument is located at the southern side close to the wall.

History

Ngāi Tahu pā site

Kaiapoi pā was established around the year 1700 by the Ngāi Tahu chief Tūrākautahi. Eventually to become the largest fortified village in the South Island, it lay on the site of a stronghold of an earlier tribe, either the Waitaha or Kāti Māmoe, whose history and traditions Ngāi Tahu eventually adopted. Tūrākautahi was the second son of Tūāhuriri, consequently Ngāi Tūāhuriri is the name of the hapu (subtribe) of this area.

The pā was a major centre of trade for Ngāi Tahu. All manner of resources were transported along the waterways of the Ashley River / Rakahuri and the surrounding Taerutu swamp on their way to or from Kaiapoi, including: pounamu from the Arahura River, tītī (muttonbird) from the islands around Stewart Island / Rakiura, and obsidian from Mayor Island / Tuhua.

Conflict with Te Rauparaha

The first attack made against Ngāi Tahu by Te Rauparaha and his Ngāti Toa allies was at Kaikōura during 1827–28. In 1829-1830 they returned and travelled further south than Kaikōura to attack the pā at Omihi. Ngāi Tahu records state that the Ngāti Kurī people of Kaikōura came down to the beach to welcome their kinsmen, the hapu of Tū-te-pākihi-rangi of Ngāti Kahungunu, whom they were expecting as visitors. Instead, they found the fleet of canoes belonging to Ngāti Toa who, armed with muskets, attacked and killed them. Te Rauparaha and his tribes then visited Ngāi Tahu of Kaiapoi to trade muskets for pounamu. The Kaiapoi people soon learned of the attacks on their kin at Kaikōura. A Ngāpuhi warrior, Hakitara, staying with Ngāi Tahu at Kaiapoi pā, overheard the Ngāti Toa leader planning how they would attack the following morning. Already angered by the desecration of his recently dead aunt's grave, Te Maiharanui ordered a retaliatory attack the following day. The leading Ngāti Toa chiefs were killed, including Te Pēhi Kupe. The only prominent Ngāti Toa leader not slain was Te Rauparaha.

Te Rauparaha returned to Kapiti Island to plan his revenge. In early November 1830, he persuaded Captain John Stewart of the brig Elizabeth to hide him and his warriors on board. They then visited the Ngāi Tahu people of Takapūneke near present-day Akaroa under the ruse of trading for flax. Captain Stewart persuaded Te Maiharanui to board the brig and be taken below deck, where Te Rauparaha and his men took the chief, his wife and his daughter prisoner. That night, Te Rauparaha's men then came ashore to sack Takapūneke. The brig returned to Kapiti with Te Maiharanui and his family held captive. Rather than see his daughter enslaved, Te Maiharanui strangled her and threw her overboard. Te Rauparaha then gave Te Maiharanui to the wife of the Ngāti Toa chief Te Pēhi, who killed Te Maiharanui by slow torture. His wife suffered the same fate.

Te Rauparaha then mounted a major expedition against Kaiapoi Ngāi Tahu in the summer of 1831–32. He enlisted the help of warriors from Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa, and led some skirmishes against the iwi at the top of the South Island before returning to Kapiti. In early 1832 they travelled further south, landing at the mouth of the Waipara River. They sacked the major settlement at Tuahiwi and proceeded on to Kaiapoi. At the time, Ngāi Tūāhuriri were engaged in collecting food from all across Canterbury, and the attack from the northern tribe was unexpected.

The attackers laid siege to the pā, but were unable to breach the defences. The surrounding swamp limited which approaches they could take, and the only approaches on solid land were heavily fortified and exposed to musket fire from within the pā. The swamp also provided food for the defenders, who could have harvest eels and birds. As a result, the siege lasted three months. The attackers slowly approached the walls by sapping, and began piling up dry brushwood against the walls of the pā with the intention of burning it.

During autumn, the defenders waited for an opportunity when the wind was blowing from north-west, and lit the brushwood that had been piled up by their enemy. Their intention was to remove the threat of fire to the pā, while also driving back the attackers with the wind-blown smoke. This plan initially seemed to be successful, but the wind suddenly changed direction to the south, blowing the smoke and flames back against the pā. Te Rauparaha took advantage of the chaos and his men invaded the pā. The settlement was completely destroyed, with the occupants that had not managed to flee being killed and eaten or taken as slaves. Ngāti Toa then attacked the Banks Peninsula tribes, taking the principal fort at Ōnawe, in Akaroa Harbour.

Later history

A monument to the pā was erected in 1898 by Canon Stack. The inscription on the monument reads:

    KA TU TENEI POUREWA KI RUNGA
    KI KAIAPOHIA HEI TOHU WHAKAMAHARATANGA KO TE PA TUATAHI TENEI O NGAI-TAHU AKE I TO RATOU WHAKA-WHITINGA MAI I AOTEAROA KI TENEI TAKIWA O TE WAIPOUNAMU NEI
    KO TU-RAKAUTAHI ME ONA HAPU NA RATOU I NOHO TUTURU TENEI PA KA HUAINA IHO E IA TE INGOA KO TE KOHANGA O KAIKAI-A-WARO NA ONA URI I HUA KO KAIAPOHIA A WAIHO IHO TENEI PA HEI UPOKO MO ERA ATU PA A NGAI-TAHU
    

    THIS MONUMENT STANDS ON THE SITE OF KAIAPOHIA THE FIRST PA ESTABLISHED BY THE NGAI-TAHU TRIBE AFTER CROSSING FROM THE NORTH ISLAND TO THIS DISTRICT OF THE SOUTH ISLAND
    TU-RAKAUTAHI HEADED THE SUB TRIBE WHICH FOUNDED THE PA
    ABOUT THE YEAR 1700 FIRST CALLING IT THE NEST OF KAIKAI-A-WARO • HIS DESCENDANTS CHANGED THE NAME TO KAIAPOHIA COMMONLY KNOWN AS KAIAPOI LATER THE PA WAS REGARDED AS THE CHIEF NGAI-TAHU STRONGHOLD
    

During the mid-2000s the planned township of Pegasus was built very close to the pā site. The developers engaged with Ngāi Tūāhuriri to explore and document archealogical sites in the area.

After the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes the tekoteko at the top of the monument was removed and is in the possession of the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch. The site and the monument on it are both listed as Category-II historic places by Heritage New Zealand for their historical significance to Ngāi Tahu.

Toponymy

According to Ngāi Tahu tradition, the name was coined by Tūrākautahi. The name has two root words: kai (food) and poi (to swing or toss). When Tūrākautahi was challenged on his chosen location — which provided only eels and water fowl but not any other food — he determined that food could be brought in from surrounding settlements. The name reflects Kaiapoi's ] as a centre of trade and economics for the iwi.

The name of the pā is often mistakenly given as "Kaiapohia", but the origin of this name was a curse against Ngāi Tahu by Ngāti Toa. Before embarking on his final raid on the pā, Te Rauparaha consulted with the Te Āti Awa ] Kukurarangi, who made a prophecy:

    He aha te hau,
    He uru, He tonga,
    He parera Kai waho e,
    Nau mai ra e Raha,
    Kia kite koe i te Ahi,
    I Papakura ki Kaiapohia
    

    What is the wind?
    It is north-east, it is south,
    It is east in the offing, oh!
    Come then, O Rauparaha!
    That you may see the fire,
    On the crimson flat of Kaiapohia.
    

—Kukurarangi, Te Ati Awa, Kapiti Island 1831

The final word — Kaiapohia — is a pun, which in this context can be translated as "piling up of bodies for eating". The roots are the noun kai and the verb apo (to gather together, with a connotation of greediness). The passivating verb ending -hia is used, which is an indicator of the word's North Island origins. This name was popularised in historical accounts by the Reverand Stack. He asserted it was the correct name, used it as the title of his book on the siege, and used the name in the monument on the pā site. However, there are no records of any Ngāi Tahu chiefs of the nineteenth century using the name. When asked in 1879, Natanahira Waruwarutu said, "It is the ignorance of the northern Māoris which has induced them to call it Kaiapohia." Stack had learned the Māori language in the North Island, and he described the southern name of Kaiapoi as "unmusical".

See also

• History of Ngāi Tahu

References

Bibliography

• Evison, Harry (August 1990), "Kaiapohia - The Story of a Name", Te Karanga, vol. 6, no. 2, Christchurch: Canterbury Maori Studies Association, pp. 3–9, ISSN 0112-9325
• Evison, Harry (1993), Te Wai Pounamu, The Greenstone Island: A history of the southern Māori during the European colonization of New Zealand, Christchurch: Aoraki Press, ISBN 9780908925070
• Evison, Harry (2006), The Ngai Tahu Deeds: A window on New Zealand history, Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, ISBN 978-1-877257-39-1, OCLC 1045715874
• Rakuraku, Maraea; Lenihan, Te Marino (8 March 2009). "08 Poutu-te-rangi (March) 2009". Te Ahi Kaa. 13 minutes in. Radio New Zealand.
• Stack, James West (1893), Kaiapohia: The story of a siege, Christchurch & Dunedin: Whitcombe & Tombs, ISBN 9780958343886

Citations

1. Stack 1893, p. 17.
2. ^ Stack 1893, p. 4.
3. Stack 1893, pp. 17–18.
4. Stack 1893, pp. 58.
5. Rakuraku & Lenihan 2009, 15:18.
6. "2. The move south – Ngāi Tahu – Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand". Teara.govt.nz. 4 March 2009. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
7. Evison 1993, p. 50.
8. Evison 1993, p. 51.
9. Evison 1993, pp. 52–53.
10. Evison 1993, p. 54.
11. ^ Evison 1993, p. 59.
12. ^ Evison 1993, p. 60.
13. Stack 1893, p. 51.
14. Stack 1893, p. 56.
15. Evison 1993, p. 61.
16. Rakuraku & Lenihan 2009.
17. "Kaiapoi Pā", my.christchurchcitylibraries.com, archived from the original on 3 October 2023, retrieved 10 May 2024
18. "Kaiapohia", Heritage New Zealand, retrieved 11 May 2024
19. "Kaiapohia Monument", Heritage New Zealand, retrieved 11 May 2024
20. Evison 1993, p. 4.
21. Stack 1893, p. 45.
22. Evison 1990, p. 6.
23. "kai", Te Aka Māori Dictionary, archived from the original on 15 May 2024, retrieved 25 May 2024
24. "apo", Te Aka Māori Dictionary, archived from the original on 1 February 2023, retrieved 25 May 2024
25. "-hia", Te Aka Māori Dictionary, archived from the original on 26 February 2023, retrieved 25 May 2024
26. Evison 1990, p. 5.
27. ^ Evison 1993, p. 476.
28. Evison 1990, p. 3.