Waimeha

Location: Opposite 133 Weggery Drive, Waikanae Beach

Waimeha pa

In 1824 a group of Te Āti Awa iwi arrived from Taranaki at the invitation of Ngāti Toa. One of their settlements was on this sandhill overlooking the estuary of the two rivers. In 1830, Muaūpoko and Rangitāne, the previous inhabitants of this region, were invited to Waimeha to try a new food we now call pumpkin. Despite a warning from some of Ngāti Raukawa they came, but were killed by Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Toa at the orders of Te Rauparaha.

Battle of Kuititanga

The battle of Kuititanga took place near this pā site. It was one of the last intertribal ‘Musket Wars’ before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Disputes between Te Rauparaha and his allies, Te Āti Awa and Ngāti Raukawa, reached boiling point in 1839. On 16 October 1839, Ngāti Raukawa from Te Horo and Ōtaki attacked Waimeha under cover of darkness. The defenders withdrew to Arapawaiti, where reinforcements arrived from the other villages. In a counter-attack, the Raukawa war party was forced back to the tribal boundary at Kukutauaki. Te Rauparaha, who had friends on both sides, watched the fighting from a whaleboat off shore. The New Zealand Company ship Tory arrived shortly after the battle. Its surgeons tended the wounded and, a few days later, a conference of reconciliation between the two warring factions was held on board the Tory. In 1848, some Waimeha inhabitants returned to Taranaki, while the remainder moved inland to Tuku Rākau.

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