Horotiu
He tupua, he kaitiaki
Wai o Horotiu is the ancestral river that once flowed through what is now the Queen Street valley. The river sustained and enabled settlement of this area over the millennia, and the valley is literally thick with ngā tapuwae o ngā mana o te whenua (the footprints of local tribes), embedded into this space over time, testament to the richness of local resources and strategic importance of this location.
Alongside these tūpuna (ancestors), this valley and its river were also the domain of Horotiu, a being of both physical and metaphysical dimensions. Horotiu is recognised variously by ngā mana o te whenua as kaitiaki of this area, his domain; an enduring influence to remind us, and to challenge us.
Despite the historic covering over and containment of Wai o Horotiu, this river still flows and dances beneath our feet, and retains both mana and mauri, albeit compromised significantly by our contemporary urban form and lifestyles.
For Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, having Horotiu stand in this place in this way is a powerful and poignant challenge to us all to consider the health and wellbeing of our urban waterways and water systems, as plans for the development of Tāmaki Makaurau continue. Continuing to tell the many stories of this place, broadening understanding, and ensuring the education of the many generations ahead of us who will inhabit the legacies we are creating through our actions remain ongoing and important challenges for us all.
The whenua now occupied by the Auckland Town Hall was once a kāinga (settlement site). Development of this space uncovered koiwi (human remains). The resting place of these tūpuna was disrupted, requiring them to be uplifted and reinterred elsewhere to enable construction. Horotiu in this place prompts us to remember the sacrifice of those who have shaped this place for all Aucklanders and whose memory we should acknowledge into the future.
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Ko Te Wai o Horotiu te tupuna awa i rere i te whārua o Queen Street. Nā te awa i hāpai, i āhei ai te noho i tēnei takiwā i ngā manomano tau. Kua kapi te whenua i ngā tapuwae o ngā mana o te whenua, waihoki he tohu o ngā rawa me te hira o tēnei wāhi.
Atu i ēnei tūpuna, he whaitua hoki tēnei whārua me tōna awa o Horotiu, he tipua o ngā ao e rua. E mōhiotia ana e ngā mana o te whenua i roto i ngā āhuatanga rerekē, ko Horotiu te kaitiaki o tēnei wāhi, o tōna whaitua. He mana mau roa tōna hei whakamahara, hei wero hoki i a tātou.
Ahakoa te taupokina me te whakakatinga o te Wai o Horotiu, e rere tonu ana tēnei awa i raro i ō tātou waewae, ā, e pupuri tonu ana i tōna mana me tōna mauri, heoi, kua tino pāngia e ngā āhuatanga o te noho tāone i ēnei rā.
Ki a Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, ko te tū a Horotiu i tēnei wāhi, i tēnei āhua hoki, he wero nui ki a tātou katoa kia whai whakaaro ki te oranga o ngā wai i te tāone me ngā pūnaha wai i a tātou e whakarite tonu ana i ngā whakawhanaketanga o Tāmaki Makaurau. He wero nui, he hira hoki ki a tātou katoa te kōrero tonu i ngā pūrākau maha o tēnei wāhi, te whakawhānui i te māramatanga, me te whakapau kaha kia whāia tonutia te mātauranga e ngā uri whakaheke ka kite i ngā hua o ā tātou nei mahi.
Ko te whenua e nōhia nei e te Hōro ā-Tāone o Tāmaki Makaurau, he kāinga nō mua. I ngā whakawhanaketanga o tēnei wāhi i huraina he kōiwi. I whakararuhia te wāhi takoto o ēnei tūpuna, nā, i hahu ai ngā kōiwi me te whakanehu ki wāhi kē atu, kia haere tonu ai ngā mahi hanga. Ko Horotiu i tēnei wāhi e whakamahara nei i a tātou ki ngā mahi nui a rātou mā kua whakaāhua i tēnei wāhi hei kāinga mō tātou katoa o Tāmaki Makaurau, ā, kia mahara tonu tātou ki a rātou haere ake nei.
ABOUT TŪRAMA
Tūrama is a collaboration between Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Manu) and Ataahua Papa (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura; Ngāti Mahuta), and Angus Muir Design, with support from Auckland Council.
He mahi ngātahi a Tūrama nā Graham Tipene (Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Manu) rātou ko Ataahua Papa (Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Mahuta), ko Angus Muir Design, me te tautoko a Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau.
