Maketu and Waipapa are the two major maraes in the Kawhia area, and they are the spiritual homes for many Maori people throughout New Zealand.
Maketu Marae in particular has special significance for all Tainui people since this is where the ancestral canoe Tainui was hauled ashore at the end of its travels in the 14th century. It rests, according to tribal historians, under the sacred hillock Ahurei just south of the Maketu Marae buildings, and its place is marked by two limestone blocks.
Their names are Hani and Puna, and they represent spirit-gods of virility and fertility.
Maketu became the first settlement of the Tainui people, and they gradually spread inland from here with Kawhia becoming the tribal domain of the Ngati Toa and allied tribes with Maniapoto occupying the upper and eastern reaches of Kawhia Harbour.
The main marae buildings comprise Auau-ki-te-rangi (opened in 1962) named after the father of Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui canoe, Te Tini o Tainui, the dining hall which was opened by the then prime minister David Lange in 1986, and Te Ruruhi Tuarua, an accommodation block opened in 1996.
Waipapa Marae is the spiritual home of the Ngati Hikairo people, who lived alongside the Ngati Toa for many generations. Noted for their skills as fishermen and land cultivators, the Ngati Hikairo occupied the valley of Oparau and the forest lands around the foothills of Pirongia.
When the Ngati Toa led by Te Rauparaha migrated south to Kapiti around 1817 the Ngati Hikairo moved into the coastal lands around Kawhia, and at the same time the Ngati Mahuta people of Taharoa became the occupants of Maketu....
