Our History

Tauranganui – home to Ngati Kaiaua, Ngati Rangiwahitu and Ngati Tipa hapu, lays nestled on the bank of the Waikato River near Te Puaha o Waikato. From all accounts Tauranganui was a place where our Tupuna had semi-permanent kainga that were used during the fishing season and during cultivating and harvesting times. During the 1800s,
residents became more permanent. At that time homes were on the hill where the kaumatua flats are now situated and further back.

A study of the old maps show that the tracks that our tupuna used travelled through Manutahi, then Marepa and out to the Port. Before the advent of Pakeha, land was held by the collective (hapu), then along came land laws and the Maori Land Court which imposed on us an English system of individual land ownership which was against our customary land tenure which in turn caused internal squabbles and battles. On 26 March 1896 Judge Mair settled the disagreements by creating a 10-acre block as an inalienable reserve so that the kainga of Tauranganui should not be cut in half. Tupuna from both sides of the boundary were listed as owners of the block from which that time became commonly known as Opuatia No 18 (Tauranganui).

In the early 1940’s the block was vested in King Koroki by kaumatua of Kaiaua, Rangiwahitu, and Tipa. The document reads:

“E tuku ana ite nei whenua hei whenua Rahui hei papakainga mo matou me o matou uri
whakatupu ki raro ia Kingi Koroki kia kaua rawa etaea te hoko ake tonu atu.

On the 3rd December 1945 an order from the Maori Land Court set aside the block as a reserve for a meeting place. In 1946 it became a Maori Reserve.