ABOUT US
The Ngawha Springs are iconic to the Ngapuhi iwi.
They are culturally significant and have a rich social, environmental
and political history.
The Parahirahi Ngawha Waiariki Trust as kaitiaki has a
responsibility to ensure that the springs are maintained and developed
so that future generations can enjoy their healing waters.
They are culturally significant and have a rich social, environmental
and political history.
The Parahirahi Ngawha Waiariki Trust as kaitiaki has a
responsibility to ensure that the springs are maintained and developed
so that future generations can enjoy their healing waters.
KO TE NGAWHA TE KANOHI O TE TAONGA,
ENGARI KO TONA WHATUMANAWA,
KO TONA MANA HAUORA,
NO RARO
NGAWHA IS THE EYE OF THE TAONGA,
BUT ITS HEART,
ITS LIFE GIVING POWER,
LIES BENEATH (THE SURFACE)
ENGARI KO TONA WHATUMANAWA,
KO TONA MANA HAUORA,
NO RARO
NGAWHA IS THE EYE OF THE TAONGA,
BUT ITS HEART,
ITS LIFE GIVING POWER,
LIES BENEATH (THE SURFACE)
Our People
Māori history tells how these hot springs are connected to the volcanoes in Hawaii thus supporting the genealogical Polynesian connections throughout the Pacific.
Historical accounts tell of Kareariki, an ancestress of the local Māori, who discovered the hot springs in the late 1600s. Kareariki lived with her husband, Uenuku-kuare, and their children in the area which at that time was covered in bush and rich in bird life.
Kareariki later killed some of her female slaves who thereupon became taniwha in a nearby lake, collectively taking the form of a kauri log known to this day by the name Takauere. After Kareariki lost her pet dog Kaipahau (killed for food), she kept hearing his spirit barking night and day. He becomes another minder of the pools.
It is said that only ancestors of exceptional mana can create or summon and control taniwha. Both Kaipahau and Takauere and other mokaikai (minders) have changed the whole characteristics of the pools in the eyes of Ngāpuhi to more than pools of medicinal and personal value, indeed to objects of esoteric protection over the mana, tapu and wairua of the Ngāpuhi people.
Historical accounts tell of Kareariki, an ancestress of the local Māori, who discovered the hot springs in the late 1600s. Kareariki lived with her husband, Uenuku-kuare, and their children in the area which at that time was covered in bush and rich in bird life.
Kareariki later killed some of her female slaves who thereupon became taniwha in a nearby lake, collectively taking the form of a kauri log known to this day by the name Takauere. After Kareariki lost her pet dog Kaipahau (killed for food), she kept hearing his spirit barking night and day. He becomes another minder of the pools.
It is said that only ancestors of exceptional mana can create or summon and control taniwha. Both Kaipahau and Takauere and other mokaikai (minders) have changed the whole characteristics of the pools in the eyes of Ngāpuhi to more than pools of medicinal and personal value, indeed to objects of esoteric protection over the mana, tapu and wairua of the Ngāpuhi people.
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