Historical Origins
The following information is sourced from the Rakautatahi Marae Reservation Trust’s charter.
Rākautātahi Marae is situated on Snee Road, just off SH1 at the southern end of the Takapau Plains. Rākautātahi Marae is located at an area that was known as Kaikanohi. The land on which Rākautātahi Marae now stands, was donated in 1959 by Mrs Mona Scanlon, the sister of Rupuha Kotua.
The Marae reserve was set aside by gazette notice as a ‘Māori reservation for the purpose of a meeting place for the benefit of the Ngāti Kahungunu tribe residing in the Rākautātahi Tribal Committee District’.
The first building erected on the Marae reserve was a hall. Many Māori and Pākehā families living in the area contributed to the building of the hall which was opened in 1962. The name given to the new hall was ‘The Rākautātahi War Memorial Hall’ – to honour and remember the many hōia (soldiers) who gave their lives so that we, their descendants could live in peace. Initially, the hall was used for social gatherings and church functions. Then as our elders passed away, the hall and the Marae reserve were used for tangihanga.
In August of 1981, tragedy struck our hall and a fire was seen at about 4.30am from the main road, which was mistaken for a hangi fire – thought to be preparing for the funeral of Bernard Allen who lay in state at his home at Snee Road. Consequently the alarm went off too late and the hall was burnt to the ground.
This tragedy galvanised the whole community; including residents from both Takapau and Norsewood, whānau whānui and local farmers who combined their efforts to raise funds for a new building. Fund-raising activities included, holding calcuttas, shop days, shearing, bottle
drives, walkathons, telephone appeals and donations from various organisations.
Our kaumātua Rupuha Kotua saw the opportunity to not only rebuild the hall but to also build a wharepuni. Through the assistance of the Department of Labour, who provided work programs to erect the two buildings, and willing contribution from various whānau the hall was completed in 1981.
Ru visited a number of kaumātua in the region and asked who was the (Rangatira) Leader of the past that brought our hapū together and the answer was Te Whatuiapiti. Ru then announced at a Marae meeting that he was naming the Meeting House ‘Te Poho o Te Whatuiapiti’ (The Bosom of Te Whatuiapiti) and the Hall would be named ‘Te Rau Aroha’ in memory of the Kai Wagon that distributed kai to our soldiers fighting overseas during World War 2.
Jack McCarten from Utiku donated tōtara trees for the carvings for the wharepuni and we shore his sheep to pay for the milling of the logs. The carvings were completed under the tutorship of master carver Kelly Kereama assisted by Māori Access under the umbrella of the
Aorangi Trust Board. Tuterangi Nepe Apatu, Jack Te Hau, Reno Slater, Daniel Nepe Apatu and Leslie Te Hau were the whānau members that went and learnt to carve the taonga that now adorn our Marae.
While the tāne were in Feilding preparing the carvings, the wāhine were at Rākautātahi learning how to do the tukutuku panels under the guidance of Nanny Lena, Margaret Nepe Apatu, Te Atarangi Allen, Susan Coffey, Rachel Snee and Honeygirl Kotua were the whānau who worked on the panels, while Blackie Kotua, Allan Strickland and Jack Te Hau painted the heke and tāhuhu.
Finally, on the morning of November 5 1988, the new wharenui was opened with a dawn ceremony, reflecting the collective efforts and pride of all those involved.
Tū te wehi, tū te ihi, tū te ao, tū te pō!
