The totara floor of Rangatira Marae was ruined in Cyclone Gabrielle, and the hapu plans to bury it with a karakia. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook
A major project to relocate five marae in Tairāwhiti is underway, after flooding from Cyclone Gabrielle forced them to move to safer ground.
The $136 million Crown funded project is expected to take several years and it's not just a logistical challenge, but a spiritual one too.
Down a bumpy rural road in Te Karaka near Gisborne, lies the Ngāti Wahia hapū's Rangatira Marae. The red and white buildings are nestled on the banks of the Waiapoa River and a small stopbank wraps its arms around the site. Next to the wharenui, a lovely old kauri tree stands tall and you can hear the bubbling sound of the river mixing with cheerful birdsong.
But look closer and the rustic wharekai building with its original dirt floor lies tilted to one side, and the wharenui meeting house is missing half of its walls - they've been stripped off and sad pile of totara planks lie rotting in the carpark.
"We'll end up burying it, we'll have a karakia and lay it to rest," said Dave Pikia.
The two buildings are lined with native timber and were lovingly crafted by hand 100 years ago. Pikia's face fills with pride as he shows me the clever design of the wharekai's kitchen bench.
"You don't see stuff like this anymore, the grooves and that - you're talking over a hundred years old - it's crazy," he exclaimed.
Pikia's ancestors built this special place, and it's filled with precious memories from his childhood spent playing at the river.
"I was up to no good, mischief," he laughed.
"The river was our playground and all around here were fruit trees, so we'd spend all day over there and when we got hungry at lunchtime.. we'd come up and have a feed," he said.
Dave Pikia and nephew Himi Taingahue at Rangatira Marae. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook
The marae is at risk from the Waipaoa River, which has flooded it countless times, most recently in 2023 during Cyclone Gabrielle where floodwaters reached three metres in depth around the buildings.
The taonga that did survive includes eight woven whariki mats, some are about a century old and were gifted to Pikia's grandfather as he travelled the motu.
"He was a tohunga, a spiritual man, he was a healer. And that was how they paid him, through gifts," he said.
'This wasn't something I took lightly'
Rangatira is one of five flooded marae in Tairāwhiti's Category 3 areas being moved to safer ground. Puketawai, Hinemaurea ki Mangatuna, Okuri, Takipū are also in the process of relocating and each of them have accepted a support package from the government.
Those decisions have taken time for each hapu to reach, as it's not just about the logistical challenges, but the spiritual ones too.
"This wasn't something I took lightly because my mother said 'never move the marae', but she's not experienced what we've experienced..
"Now she'll be looking down on us saying 'you've made the right call', said Pikia.
Photo: Supplied
Ngāti Wahia is hoping the marae's original roof can be transported in one whole piece, as Pikia said it holds the mauri and mana of his people's history.
"All the korero of the wharanui... it stays in the head and we take that to the new site.
"Because of the rot in the lower walls we can only take what is good, but at least we still maintain the mana of the wharenui."
Pikia's nephew Himi Taingahue supports the decision to move as during the cyclone he was stuck on a hill watching Te Karaka disappear under floodwaters. The new site sits on much higher ground only a few minutes away, and is where residents evacuate to in flooding.
"If it floods up here then it'll flood all of Gisborne before it makes it this high," he said.
At the end of a lush green paddock sits the freshly carved Te Pou Whenua o Wi Haronga, proudly overlooking and guarding the new marae site.
"It's a nice site, it's going to be fitting as we all feel this will be safest place.
"Across the road is our MTT site, our iwi led civil defence, that's where our headquarters are," Himi explained.
A pou whenua overlooks Rangatira Marae's new site which is just minutes away from the original location, but on much higher ground. Photo: RNZ / Alexa Cook
The aim is for the relocation to be completed within a year, so Rangatira Marae can celebrate its 100th anniversary at the new location. Pikia looks sad, but at peace, as he explains that the original marae site will be treated as a taonga.
"We'll always come back here, there are a lot of stories and that here. My kuia passed away out in the gardens out there, and that's where my koroua used to bury the taonga... it's got a lot of significance spiritually," said Pikia.
However, after seeing mother nature's fury unleashed on Te Karaka in the cyclone, he knows change is needed.
"It's not the end. It's about preserving our taonga for the preservation of our mokopuna and their mokupuna, for future generations.
"What is happening globally with climate change - we have to manage our retreat," he said.
'It puts a lot of pressure on communities'
Dean Whiting is the Director Māori Heritage for Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and has been working alongside marae to help with the relocation process.
"It puts a lot of pressure on communities when faced with these challenges. Some of these places are really treasured in the sense that they have carvings, painted art work and other taonga that adorn them or are contained in them," he said.
Whiting told RNZ it's about acknowledging the relationship to the threat, such as a river or ocean, which will result in more marae deciding to move to safer ground.
"It's that planned approach to it that we will see a lot more of.
"The very nature of a lot of whare in particular is that they are reasonably moveable... it depends on where they need to come from and go to, as there may be obstacles in the way that prevent a whole building being moved."
Whiting said many marae were located in a particular place for a unique reason.
"It's the vantage of that place - there might be a particular orientation of a whare to an island or a land mark that was always referred to in a whai korero so if you move to a new location you might have to re-think that.
"There are a lot of connections culturally that have to be considered."
He said there's a lot of resilience in these communities, and his advice would be to keep marae well maintained if possible.
"Then should a community need to relocate, they know their building is in a sound condition and it's a lot easier to move," he said.
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