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Te Waihora protest letter, 1870.

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Ngā Tūtohu Whenua: Cultural Landscape Values

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Taumutu

Description

NameTaumutuDescriptionTaumutu is the home of Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki, the descendants of Te Ruahikihiki. Taumutu is located on the shores of Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere. It is the oldest settlement in the Selwyn District.

There are various speculations on the meaning of the name Taumutu. Some sources believe the name is a contraction of one of the original pā, The Pā o The Ika Mutu. Other sources suggest it means the end of a ridge or a high ridge. For the people of Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki, Taumutu simply means home.

A place of occupation for over 600 years, Taumutu has a longstanding cultural history and has been the site of much archaeological interest for this reason. Borrow pits are visible in the paddock across from Te Pā o Moki. These large depressions in the ground are the result of the removal of earth for use in what are considered to be some of the southernmost kūmara gardens in the South Island.

The 19th century saw the kāika at Taumutu embroiled in the turmoil of the Kai Huaka feud from 1825-28. The kāika was then doubly threatened by Te Rauparaha’s invasion of the south and the arrival of increasing numbers of European farmers and fishermen.

European immigrants worked to harness the bounty of the lake and develop its surrounding lands into pasture. Ngāi Tahu influence in the area was rapidly eroded culminating in the 1848 Kemp Purchase that saw much of the land at Taumutu passing out of Ngāi Tahu control. Although Ngāi Tahu reserved Te Waihora from the sale, and sought the guarantee of access to mahika kai, exploitation of the lake and its resources continued and the European presence led to the population at Taumutu being in serious decline by the end of the 19th century.

Despite the decreasing population, a new meeting hall was built and officially opened on 7 May 1891. It replaced an earlier structure that had stood on the same site. The hall was named Moki after the tipuna whose original historic pā had stood on the same ground. Moki has undergone extensive modernisation and additions over the years and so bears little resemblance to its original 1891 form.
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Image

Hone Wetere Church at Taumutu, 1899

Project Tāwhaki at Kaitōrete Spit

Hon. Hōri Kerei Taiaroa and Tini Kerei Taiaroa with two of their grandchildren

Ngāi Tahu ancestors at Kaitōrete Spit

Te Waihora protest letter, 1870.

Taumutu float in Leeston procession

Tangi of Apa Taiaroa: procession leaving the Awhitu home of Hon. Hōri Kerei Taiaroa

Group at tangi of Apa Taiaroa at Awhitu,Taumutu

Tangihanga for Hōri Kerei Taiaroa at Ōtākou, Otago Peninsula, 1905

Passengers arriving at Ōtākou for the tangihanga of Hōri Kerei Taiaroa, 1905

Crowds of mourners at the tangihanga for Hōri Kerei Taiaroa at Ōtākou, Otago Peninsula, 1905

Sedgemere school WW2 Roll of Honour

Taumutu Māori Pah Road

Chatham Islands Māori who escorted the casket of Apa Taiaroa to Taumutu

Taumutu Pah Road being worked on

Person

David Perenara-O’Connell

Cath Brown

Mata Kukae

Hōri Kerei Taiaroa

Event

Whakatuwhera/Official opening of Te Ara Ātea

Whakatau Whare/Blessing of Te Ara Ātea

Map

Southbridge Survey Map, 1897

Ngā Tūtohu Whenua: Cultural Landscape Values Map

Narrative

Te Wai Tuku Kiri: The Waters of Our Ancestors

Te Taumutu Rūnanga and their mahi for pest free

Collection

Te Ara Ātea

Place

Te Waihora Lake Ellesmere

Organisation

Te Rōpū Wahine Māori Toko i te Ora Māori Women's Welfare League Inc.

Connections

PersonMata KukaeCath BrownDavid Perenara-O’ConnellEventWhakatuwhera/Official opening of Te Ara ĀteaWhakatau Whare/Blessing of Te Ara ĀteaImageTe Waihora protest letter, 1870.MapNgā Tūtohu Whenua: Cultural Landscape ValuesNarrativeTe Taumutu Rūnanga and their mahi for pest freeNgāi Te Ruahikihiki and Te Taumutu RūnangaTe Wai Tuku Kiri: The Waters of Our AncestorsMore InformationTe Taumutu RūnangaVisit Kā Huru Manu, The Ngāi Tahu Cultural Mapping Project

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Taumutu