October 05, 2017
Ngati Awa shares Te Kupenga battle memory
A recovery of memory and mana is the aim of a commemoration later this month at the site of Te Kupenga Otaramainuku in Te Teko.
The pa was a major population hub in the lower Rangitaiki until October 20 1865, when colonial forces and their loyalist allies besieged and sacked it in revenge for the alleged Ngati Awa involvement in the deaths of Rev Carl Volkner and crown agent James Fulloon.
Large parts of the rohe were subsequently confiscated.
Commemoration organiser Hakahaka Hona says in 2004 Ngati Awa placed a pou on the site, which has been leased for the commemoration.
"I took my grandmother there the other day and she was like, ‘I didn’t even know this was here.’ It’s quite sad and it has a rich history. We are just trying to share that korero with everybody," he says.
A ceremony was held last year at the site for Ngati Awa and this year the invitation has been extended to the whole motu.
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