COOK'S LANDING SITE

Titirangi, Poho o Rawiri, Cook Landing Site

Titirangi was named by the first Maori settlers in remembrance of their mountain in Hawaiki. It was the site of an extensive pa, bearing the same name, whose origins can be traced back for at least twenty-four Maori generations. The hill was also a place of whare wananga - houses of special learning.

Local tradition holds that the Horouta canoe brought the first Maori migrants to this area where they established themselves at Titirangi which proved an ideal site. The summit, at 130m, lent itself admirably to defence against enemies as it gave sentries clear views of the surrounding land and sea, while the precipitous slopes gave protection against invaders. The gullies and sun-warmed terraces below the summit offered arable land and spring water while on the rocks of the seashore were ample supplies of kaimoana.

When Captain James Cook stepped ashore in 1769 at the base of the hill near the Horouta landing place, Titirangi was no longer occupied although small villages were on some of the lower slopes.

Waikahua cottage was built on a lower seaward facing slope in 1865 by the Williams family, when Hauhau unrest put the safety of the inland Waerengaahika Mission Station in jeopardy. It served as refuge for the wounded in the ensuing battle and also in 1868 when Te Kooti raided Matawhero. Archdeacon William Leonard Williams lived at Waikahua with his family whenever they were in Turanga until a new house was built in the township in 1876. The cottage was then shifted across the river to the Te Rau Theological College.

On a slope overlooking the nearby freezing company is a marble memorial, erected after World War 1 by freezing workers in memory of their fallen comrades. Also at this time plantings of varieties of exotic trees began on the northern and western slopes.

Between 1937 and 1942 the RSA established a memorial park over 48.5 ha of the hill, gifts of land being made by a number of prominent Maori and European citizens. The Titirangi Domain Board was formed and took control of the land for public noncommercial use.

The hill assumed a strategic function during World War 11 with the building of a gun emplacement near the summit. A road was formed to the top to service the gunners and the nearby barracks. The construction of the road and the later extension along the ridge in 1969 meant that all chance of careful archaeological investigation of the ancient pa site was virtually destroyed.

Titirangi offers magnificent views of Poverty Bay, Gisborne City and the surrounding rural areas. Place of interest include the plane table, Cook Bi-Centenary Memorial Plaza, gun emplacement and observatory.

Recent native tree plantings, the establishment of fitness stations and the development of extensive walkways with picnic tables and seating areas have created Titirangi Recreational Reserve which is a part of Titirangi Domain.
Poho o rawiri

Poho 0 Rawiri ranks high among the important and historical whare runanga of Tairawhiti.

The first house of this name was built after the death of Rawiri Te Eke in 1852 and by the 1880s the house was becoming uninhabitable. About this time the amo and maihi passed into the hands of Archdeacon H Williams who in 1913 presented them to the Dominion Museum.

The second house was built about the 1890s on the same marae situated in Hirini Street opposite the cemetery and was in use until the site was required for harbour extensions in the late 1920s. The carved ancestral pou tahu came from Poho 0 Mahaki which was built in 1830. These carvings were placed in safe keeping before the Hauhau seige of Waerengaahika in 1865. Today they have a secure home at the present Poho 0 Rawiri.

The present whare runanga, Poho 0 Rawiri, stands imposingly at the foot of Titirangi. When opened it was reputed to be the largest meeting house in New Zealand. The whole structure stands on a concrete foundation with a concrete porch. It was the first meeting house to have a steel ridge pole. With walls of timber, a galvanised iron roof and electric wiring throughout it was indeed a modern structure. The richly decorated interior incorporates many noteworthy features, quite radical for the time, the more unusual being interior alcoves and stage. The stage is framed by carved maihi with a koruru at the apex, making the stage a meeting house within a meeting house. The carving was carried out at the Maori school of art in Rotorua.

The tekoteko, a human figure kneeling on the right knee with the right hand held upwards, represents Rawiri Te Eke Tu A Terangi, the ancestor who challenges those who enter the marae. Inside the venerated ancestor Kahungunu faces the door.

Many notable dignitaries attended the opening celebrations on 11 March 1930. Amongst these were Dr Peter Buck, Sir Apirana Ngata and the Hon G W Forbes, the Deputy Leader of the Government. Since opening, this marae has welcomed Royalty and other dignitaries. It has played an important role for the City of Gisborne.

In an idyllic spot on the side of the hill stands the little church, Toko Toru Tapu, the foundation stone of which was laid by Bishop W H Williams on 10 January 1936. Near the church hangs Whenuanui, the church bell.

Due to the renaissance of interest in Maori culture during the 1980s alterations and additions became necessary to accommodate the increase in the number of people using the marae facilities. The dining hall, Te Poho o Hine i Tuhia o Terangi, has been extended; a covered area, Papa Whariki, has been built; a kokiri centre has been established for meetings and training courses; the Titirangi tennis courts have been extensively upgraded; while a kohanga reo caters for the very young.

Ngati One One have made this a shared place.
Cook landing site national historic reserve

Captain James Cook RN was offered the command of the 'Endeavour' by the Admiraity in 1768 to undertake a voyage of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. After leaving Tahiti he followed, sealed orders' and on 8 October 1769 arrived off the East Coast of New Zealand where Nicholas Young was the first on board to sight the coastal hills.

Local folklore tells that the Maori of the time perceived the 'Endeavour' as an enormous bird with wings of great size and beauty. The longboats they regarded as fledglings while the occupants, Cook and his men, were thought to be atua.

On 9 October 1769 Cook and his party made their historic landing just to the east of the Turanganui River mouth. Cook and some of his men crossed the river and walked along Waikanae Stream leaving gifts near some Maori whare. On hearing gunfire they hurriedly returned to find that a Maori of Aitanga a Hauiti had been killed while warning shots were being fired.

The following day local Rongowhakaata challenged a landing party with a haka and Cook and a Maori leader met with a hongi and exchanged gifts. Warriors and sailors mixed together uneasily and when a sword was snatched a shot was fired and a Maori was fatally wounded.

More unfortunate deaths occurred when canoes, approaching the 'Endeavour', failed to understand the marines' signal volley. However, some Maori were taken on board, fed, given gifts and after a night on board were rowed ashore next morning. Cook and a party including Mr Banks, Dr Solander and Tupaea, a Tahitian interpreter, walked along the sand-hills shooting waterfowl on the way. When they returned to the longboat they met a large party of Maori and further conversation and exchange of goods took place.

Cook weighed anchor on 12 October and the 'Endeavour' sailed from Poverty Bay, named by Cook "...as it afforded us not one thing we wanted".

In 1906 a handsome granite sheathed concrete obelisk and pedestal was erected to mark the site of the landing of Captain James Cook. Money was raised nation-wide with each school child contributing one penny and the monument was unveiled by Sir James Carroll and Bishop Leonard Williams. In 1966 the reserve surrounding the monument was declared an historic reserve. In 1987 the Planning Tribunal granted a 'cone of vision' within which development is restricted so that the open sea and Young Nicks Head can always be viewed from the Cook Monument.

On 9 October 1990 this area was declared a National Historic Reserve, the first on the New Zealand mainland. It is of great national significance as it is close to the place where Maori and European began to learn about each other.

Cook wrote on the 9th his journal entry. He used 'ship time' - measured from noon to noon. The civilians on board called the day the 8th.