Rare Māori Pa Site new Wellington attraction
20 Oct 2008
Visitors to Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, can now get a rare glimpse of the city's early history with the unveiling of remnants of an ancient Māori pa in the heart of the central business area.
The remains of Te Aro pa dating back to the mid 1800s were unearthed in 2005 during the construction of a new central city apartment complex. Now the find has been turned into a new visitors centre in one of the city's main streets.
Early Māori houses
The site is special not only because it is the only known remains of a Māori pa (or fortified settlement) in the Wellington area but also because it contains the only known whare ponga (houses built from native tree fern logs) to have survived from that period.
Archaeologists believe the early dwellings date back to Te Aro pa, one of the largest Māori villages in the Wellington area and home to up to 200 people. The settlement occupied an area of more than two hectares from the 1820s until the 1880s.
Remarkable discovery
The pa remains were discovered during the construction of the Bellagio Ataahua apartment block in Taranaki Street, right in the heart of Wellington's CBD. They had existed under a two-storey building that had stood on the site for 100 years.
Construction was delayed while developers worked with the Historic Places Trust, Wellington City Council and the Wellington Tenths Trust - representing local Māori - to find a solution. The huts were eventually listed as a Category I historic place and the new building's ground-floor design was adjusted to allow them to remain visible.
Early Māori-Pakeha contact
Trust Māori heritage manager Dean Whiting said the pa would have been a scene of early contact between Māori and Pakeha.
Most insights into the period came down through written accounts, he said.
"This site gives an opportunity to view first-hand what life was like for the people of Te Aro, and the landscape that surrounded them in the 19th century."
Dawn ceremony
The new Te Aro visitors centre was opened in a dawn ceremony with local Māori dignitaries performing cultural rituals required to re-awaken the site.
The site is open seven-days-a-week from 9.00am - 5.00pm, and interpretive signage explains the history of the site and how it has been preserved.
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