Opotiki
Encyclopedia
Opotiki is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty
in the North Island
of New Zealand
. It houses the headquarters of the Opotiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty
Regional Council.
based within the district are:
embayment of the Pacific Ocean
and on the other long side by the Raukumara mountain range
which rises to 1754 m (5755 ft) at Mt. Hikurangi
. The district is predominantly steep hills dissected by fast-flowing rivers, the largest being the Motu
. The coastal riverine floodplains (‘flats’) and terraces (‘tablelands’) provide the only flat land. Opotiki township is situated on the largest flat at the conjunction of two of these, the Otara River
and the Waioeka River
. Sandy beaches, lower hills and larger flats are characteristic of the southwest area of the district; pebbly or rocky beaches and high hills coming right down to the sea are characteristic of the northeast. Current human population is therefore concentrated in the coastal southwest. The district has a land area of 3,104.54 km² (1,198.67 sq mi).
The town of Opotiki is situated exactly on latitude 38° South
. The climate is temperate. Summer temperatures reach the mid-20s (Celsius, mid-70s Fahrenheit) on the coast and encourage a continuation of the beach culture of the Bay of Plenty
. Winter days are often cloudless, the daytime temperature never drops below freezing but there may be a mild frost at night. Winter snow falls along the crest of the ranges, and on the higher peaks (over 1000 m) may remain for a few weeks. Rain occurs at any season. Severe localised rainstorms ('cloudbursts') may occur in the high country and have caused flash flooding including past inundations of Opotiki township.
of Late Jurassic
to Late Cretaceous
age, draped by wind-blown loess
during the Pleistocene
Ice Ages and more recently covered in volcanic ash and pumice from the Rotorua
and Taupo
volcanic centres. The active volcano Whakaari/White Island
lies offshore and represents a tsunami
risk. Earthquakes are also a risk, but the district lies just off to the east of major fault lines and the risk is less than in other nearby areas. There are no valuable mineral resources, although the greywacke contains rare decapitated guyot
s which have been mined in the past for gold and copper.
s (Avicennia
resinifera) on this side of the North Island
of New Zealand
, the southern limit for the coastal tree mangeao (Litsea calicaris), and the mountains are the furthest north for many New Zealand alpine plants (Ranunculus
insignis, Ourisia etc.). A remnant sea-level stand of an alpine southern beech (Nothofagus
solandri) exists at the head of Ohiwa Harbour, a drowned Ice Ages valley system.
Coastal forest consists of pōhutukawa
trees, nikau
palms, and many small shrubs belonging to genera such as Pseudopanax
, Coprosma
etc. Of particular note are a daisy-flowered shrub Olearia
pachyphylla endemic to the district, and the rare large-flowered broom Carmichaelia williamsii.
Further inland is temperate rainforest. The canopy is dominated by tall trees such as tawa
, puriri
and pukatea heavily populated by epiphyte
s (ferns, lily and orchid families) and liana
s which include a pandanaceous climber (kiekie
). The understory contains many ferns of various sizes including tree ferns up to 10 m high, the giant stinging nettle Urtica ferox and the extremely poisonous tutu
shrub.
In mountainous areas the rainforest gives way to less dense Nothofagus
beech forest. The understory is dominated by Gahnia sedges with sparse shrubs such as the foul-smelling Coprosma
foetidissima. Above the treeline there is tough-leaved Olearia
shrub and alpine herbfield
. The diminutive alpine tutu
shrub Coriaria pottsiana is endemic to the district.
The lower river valleys and adjacent tablelands provide productive farming areas whilst exotic plantings for commercial timber (mainly pinus radiata) occur on the fringes of the hill country.
, pig
, goat
, possum
) are common in the forested areas and feral sheep and cattle can be found as ‘escapees’ from adjacent farmland. In the developed areas, birdlife is a mix of introduced pastoral species from Britain (blackbird, song thrush
, various finch
es, sparrows, pheasant, mallard duck, harrier hawk), California quail, and native species such as tui
, fantail
, grey warbler, waxeye, kingfisher, pukeko.
In the forested areas the birdlife is mainly native species which in addition to the above include wood pigeon (kererū
), blue duck (whio
), bellbird
, morepork (native owl). In the past the rare kokako
(a blue-wattled bird) has been sighted.
Indigenous freshwater fish, apart from eels, are all small species and are caught as ‘whitebait’ in season. Introduced trout
are found in some rivers. The district is rich in sea life such as molluscs (pipi
, tuatua, kina
, scallop), crayfish, edible fish such as snapper
, kahawai and gurnard
. Commercial aquaculture is beginning (mussel, oyster).
people, who apparently derived from the Tākitimu
waka
which came to the Whakatane
area from Taranaki. There followed, perhaps a few generations later, the Tainui
and Te Arawa
people, from the first of which the present Ngaitai tribe claim direct descent. Also in this period were migrations by the Nukutere waka from Taranaki, and the Rangimatoru waka.
Several more generations later, the Mataatua
people arrived at Whakatane
from a place called Parinuitera, which could be either Young Nick's Head
or a place on Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island)
. The present-day Whakatohea and Whanau a Apanui tribes claim descent from the intermarriage of Mataatua with earlier migrants. The overland migration called Te Heke o Te Rangihouhiri, which eventually resulted in the Ngaiterangi
tribe of Tauranga
, also contributed to the population.
One of the earliest Whakatohea ancestors, Tarawa, deliberately concealed his origins and claimed to have swum to the district from across the sea, supported by supernatural fish he called his pets or children (‘pōtiki’). Coming ashore just west of Opotiki, he installed his pets into a spring, which thereby became imbued with his mana
. The spring ‘o pōtiki mai tawhiti’ (‘of the children from faraway’) became famous, and the short form of the name later came to be applied to the district as a whole. Opōtiki therefore means (the place) of children.
passed down the Bay of Plenty
coast. Early in the nineteenth century a few European and American traders and whalers began to visit.
The 1820s saw numerous well-armed invasions
by Ngapuhi
war parties from Northland. Although the Opotiki tribes had begun to acquire firearms by that time, they were outgunned and had to retreat from the coast to the rugged forested interior.
The 1830s to 1840s were more peaceful and the tribes again returned to the coast to take advantage of trading opportunities with trading and whaling ships. Māori Christian missionaries began to instruct in literacy and religion. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi
was taken around to be signed, establishing British sovereignty in name at least. Soon, a few European (British and French) missionaries moved into the area. At this period, the village at Opotiki was known as Pā
Kowhai
. There were other important villages at Tunapāhore and Te Kaha.
The 1850s and early 1860s saw continued development. The Māori tribes took up European agricultural methods and crops, primarily wheat, pigs and peaches, which were traded with Auckland
. There were still only a few Westerners living in the district, fewer still of whom were British by birth. Among these foreigners were Dr Albert Agassiz(1840-1910), distant cousin of the famous Swiss/American scientist Louis Agassiz
, and Karl Völkner, a German missionary who had gone over to the Anglican Church
.
resulted in the Whakatohea tribe lending their support to anti-British forces. In 1864 a war party was sent to assist the related Ngaiterangi
tribe, who had defeated the British at Gate Pā
, but while making their way along the coast the war party was attacked by combined British and Te Arawa
forces. The paramount chief of the Whakatohea, Te Aporotanga, was taken prisoner and then executed by the wife of an Arawa chief who had been killed in the battle. While this action was compatible with ancient Māori custom, the fighting had hitherto been conducted according to Christianized rules of engagement
, and this was accordingly taken as a sign that the British were no longer to be considered as a civilized enemy.
So in accordance with ancient Māori custom, utu
(revenge) was taken by killing the missionary Karl Völkner, who had been recruited as an agent by the British Governor, Sir George Grey
, and who had been transmitting secret reports. This incident resulted in the invasion of Opotiki by British forces in 1865, and is described in detail elsewhere
. Within a few years the Opotiki district had been settled by military settlers, and the Maori tribes had been confined to villages with little land attached. A desultory guerilla war followed, led by Whakatohea chief Hira te Popo and Tuhoe
chief Eru Tamaikowha, but they eventually surrendered and were given amnesty.
Warfare again erupted in 1870 when the guerilla chief Te Kooti
shifted his operations
to the area. For a few years he and his followers lived in the rugged Te Wera area in the extreme southwest of the Opotiki district. After an amnesty was granted he eventually moved to Ohiwa Harbour on the coast between Opotiki and Whakatane
where he later died.
Because of the relatively small area of cultivable hinterland and a treacherous harbour entrance, early hopes of Opotiki town becoming a major centre for the Bay of Plenty
were dashed. During the twentieth century the town suffered from repeated shifts of businesses and local government to Whakatane
, a situation which has only begun to reverse very recently with increasing population. Major floods in the 1950s and 1960s led to the protection of the town by levees (‘stopbanks’) which have successfully prevented any further inundations. A major boost to prosperity occurred with the kiwifruit
boom of the late twentieth century.
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
in the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It houses the headquarters of the Opotiki District Council and comes under the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
Regional Council.
Population
- of the town: 4176 - Male 1,989, Female 2,187
- 8,973 people usually live in Opotiki District - Male 4,431, Female 4,545
- Its population ranks 63rd in size out of the 73 districts in New Zealand.
- Opotiki District has 0.2 percent of New Zealand's population.
Ethnicity (of the district)
- Maori 57.5%
- European (Pakeha) 48.4%
- Other or undefined comprise the balance
- 4,884 Māori usually live in Opotiki District.
- Its Māori population ranks 36th in size out of the 73 districts in New Zealand.
- 0.9 percent of New Zealand's Māori population usually live in Opotiki District.
Tribal
IwiIwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...
based within the district are:
- Whakatohea - from Ohiwa Harbour to Opape, including Opotiki township.
- Ngaitai are based in Torere.
- Te Whanau A Apanui and Te Ehutu cover the area from Hawai to Potaka.
Geography
The Opotiki district is bounded on one long side by the eastern half of the Bay of PlentyBay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
embayment of the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
and on the other long side by the Raukumara mountain range
Raukumara Range
The Raukumara Range lies north of Gisborne, near East Cape in New Zealand's North Island. It forms part of the North Island's main mountain chain, which runs north-northeast from Wellington to East Cape, and is composed primarily of greywacke, argillites, siltstones and sandstones. The North...
which rises to 1754 m (5755 ft) at Mt. Hikurangi
Mount Hikurangi, Gisborne
Mount Hikurangi is a 1754 metre peak in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island, southwest of East Cape...
. The district is predominantly steep hills dissected by fast-flowing rivers, the largest being the Motu
Motu River
Motu River is a major waterway in the eastern portion of the North Island of New Zealand. It rises on the slopes of Maungahaumi on the southern side of the Raukumara Range south of Opotiki, heads east and cuts its way through the range and empties into the Bay of Plenty to the north.The Māori name...
. The coastal riverine floodplains (‘flats’) and terraces (‘tablelands’) provide the only flat land. Opotiki township is situated on the largest flat at the conjunction of two of these, the Otara River
Otara River
The Otara River is found in the north of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north for 35 kilometres, reaching the sea at Opotiki in the eastern Bay of Plenty. It shares its estuary with the Waioeka River....
and the Waioeka River
Waioeka River
The Waioeka River is found in the north of New Zealand's North Island. It flows north for 65 kilometres from Te Urewera National Park to reach the sea at Opotiki. It shares its estuary with the Otara River.-History:...
. Sandy beaches, lower hills and larger flats are characteristic of the southwest area of the district; pebbly or rocky beaches and high hills coming right down to the sea are characteristic of the northeast. Current human population is therefore concentrated in the coastal southwest. The district has a land area of 3,104.54 km² (1,198.67 sq mi).
The town of Opotiki is situated exactly on latitude 38° South
38th parallel south
The 38th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Ocean, and the southern end of South America, including the Andes Mountains and Patagonia.At this latitude...
. The climate is temperate. Summer temperatures reach the mid-20s (Celsius, mid-70s Fahrenheit) on the coast and encourage a continuation of the beach culture of the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
. Winter days are often cloudless, the daytime temperature never drops below freezing but there may be a mild frost at night. Winter snow falls along the crest of the ranges, and on the higher peaks (over 1000 m) may remain for a few weeks. Rain occurs at any season. Severe localised rainstorms ('cloudbursts') may occur in the high country and have caused flash flooding including past inundations of Opotiki township.
Geology
Geologically the district is predominantly greywackeGreywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
of Late Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
to Late Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
age, draped by wind-blown loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
Ice Ages and more recently covered in volcanic ash and pumice from the Rotorua
Rotorua
Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. The city is the seat of the Rotorua District, a territorial authority encompassing the city and several other nearby towns...
and Taupo
Taupo
Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....
volcanic centres. The active volcano Whakaari/White Island
Whakaari/White Island
Whakaari/White Island is an active andesite stratovolcano, situated from the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty. The nearest mainland towns are Whakatane and Tauranga....
lies offshore and represents a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
risk. Earthquakes are also a risk, but the district lies just off to the east of major fault lines and the risk is less than in other nearby areas. There are no valuable mineral resources, although the greywacke contains rare decapitated guyot
Guyot
A guyot , also known as a tablemount, is an isolated underwater volcanic mountain , with a flat top over 200 meters below the surface of the sea. The diameters of these flat summits can exceed ....
s which have been mined in the past for gold and copper.
Botany
Natural vegetation is preserved in many parts of the district because of the unsuitability of steep land for cultivation. The district is at a natural geographic and climatic boundary. It is the southern limit for mangroveMangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
s (Avicennia
Avicennia
Avicennia is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by aerial roots. Species of Avicennia occur worldwide south of the Tropic of Cancer.The...
resinifera) on this side of the North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the southern limit for the coastal tree mangeao (Litsea calicaris), and the mountains are the furthest north for many New Zealand alpine plants (Ranunculus
Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....
insignis, Ourisia etc.). A remnant sea-level stand of an alpine southern beech (Nothofagus
Nothofagus
Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 35 species of trees and shrubs native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and Australasia...
solandri) exists at the head of Ohiwa Harbour, a drowned Ice Ages valley system.
Coastal forest consists of pōhutukawa
Pohutukawa
The Pōhutukawa is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red flowers made up of a mass of stamens. The Pōhutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand...
trees, nikau
Nikau
Nikau is a palm tree, the only palm endemic to New Zealand.-Etymology:Nīkau is a Māori word; in the closely related Eastern Polynesian languages of the tropical Pacific, it refers to the fronds or the midrib of the coconut palm.- Distribution:The Nikau palm is the only palm species endemic to...
palms, and many small shrubs belonging to genera such as Pseudopanax
Pseudopanax
Pseudopanax is a small genus of 12–20 species of evergreen plants, the majority of which are endemic to New Zealand, although they also occur in Tasmania and some plants from South America have at times been included in this genus. Flowers of the genus occur in terminal umbels.-Natural...
, Coprosma
Coprosma
Coprosma is a genus of 108 species that are found in New Zealand , Hawaii , Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Is. Many species are small shrubs with tiny evergreen leaves, but a few are small trees and have much larger leaves...
etc. Of particular note are a daisy-flowered shrub Olearia
Olearia
Olearia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. There are about 130 different species within the genus found mostly in Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand...
pachyphylla endemic to the district, and the rare large-flowered broom Carmichaelia williamsii.
Further inland is temperate rainforest. The canopy is dominated by tall trees such as tawa
Tawa (tree)
The Tawa tree is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the South Island, but will also often form the subcanopy in primary forests throughout the country in...
, puriri
Puriri
Puriri is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. -History:...
and pukatea heavily populated by epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...
s (ferns, lily and orchid families) and liana
Liana
A liana is any of various long-stemmed, woody vines that are rooted in the soil at ground level and use trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the canopy to get access to well-lit areas of the forest. Lianas are especially characteristic of tropical moist deciduous...
s which include a pandanaceous climber (kiekie
Kiekie (plant)
Kiekie is a densely branched, brittle, woody climber native to New Zealand. It is a member of the screwpalm family Pandanaceae....
). The understory contains many ferns of various sizes including tree ferns up to 10 m high, the giant stinging nettle Urtica ferox and the extremely poisonous tutu
Tutu (plant)
Tutu is a common name of Māori origin for plants in the genus Coriaria found in New Zealand.Six New Zealand native species are known by the name:*Coriaria angustissima*Coriaria arborea*Coriaria lurida*Coriaria plumosa...
shrub.
In mountainous areas the rainforest gives way to less dense Nothofagus
Nothofagus
Nothofagus, also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 35 species of trees and shrubs native to the temperate oceanic to tropical Southern Hemisphere in southern South America and Australasia...
beech forest. The understory is dominated by Gahnia sedges with sparse shrubs such as the foul-smelling Coprosma
Coprosma
Coprosma is a genus of 108 species that are found in New Zealand , Hawaii , Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Is. Many species are small shrubs with tiny evergreen leaves, but a few are small trees and have much larger leaves...
foetidissima. Above the treeline there is tough-leaved Olearia
Olearia
Olearia is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae. There are about 130 different species within the genus found mostly in Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand...
shrub and alpine herbfield
Herbfield
Herbfields are plant communities dominated by herbaceous plants, especially forbs and grasses. They are found where climatic conditions do not allow large woody plants to grow, such as in subantarctic and alpine tundra environments...
. The diminutive alpine tutu
Tutu (plant)
Tutu is a common name of Māori origin for plants in the genus Coriaria found in New Zealand.Six New Zealand native species are known by the name:*Coriaria angustissima*Coriaria arborea*Coriaria lurida*Coriaria plumosa...
shrub Coriaria pottsiana is endemic to the district.
The lower river valleys and adjacent tablelands provide productive farming areas whilst exotic plantings for commercial timber (mainly pinus radiata) occur on the fringes of the hill country.
Zoology
Introduced animal species considered to be pests (deerDeer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
, goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
, possum
Common Brushtail Possum
The Common Brushtail Possum is a nocturnal, semi-arboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae, it is native to Australia, and the largest of the possums.Like most possums, the Common Brushtail is nocturnal...
) are common in the forested areas and feral sheep and cattle can be found as ‘escapees’ from adjacent farmland. In the developed areas, birdlife is a mix of introduced pastoral species from Britain (blackbird, song thrush
Song Thrush
The Song Thrush is a thrush that breeds across much of Eurasia. It is also known in English dialects as throstle or mavis. It has brown upperparts and black-spotted cream or buff underparts and has three recognised subspecies...
, various finch
Finch
The true finches are passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. They are predominantly seed-eating songbirds. Most are native to the Northern Hemisphere, but one subfamily is endemic to the Neotropics, one to the Hawaiian Islands, and one subfamily – monotypic at genus level – is found...
es, sparrows, pheasant, mallard duck, harrier hawk), California quail, and native species such as tui
Tui (bird)
The tui is an endemic passerine bird of New Zealand. It is one of the largest members of the diverse honeyeater family....
, fantail
Fantail
Fantails are small insectivorous birds of southern Asia and Australasia belonging to the genus Rhipidura in the family Rhipiduridae...
, grey warbler, waxeye, kingfisher, pukeko.
In the forested areas the birdlife is mainly native species which in addition to the above include wood pigeon (kererū
Kereru
The New Zealand Pigeon or kererū is a bird endemic to New Zealand. Māori call it Kererū in most of the country but kūkupa and kūkū in some parts of the North Island, particularly in Northland...
), blue duck (whio
WHIO
WHIO may refer to:* WHIO-TV, a television station licensed to Dayton, Ohio, United States* WHIO , a radio station licensed to Dayton, Ohio, United States...
), bellbird
Bellbird
Bellbird is a name given to several kinds of bird, noted for their far-carrying bell-like call:* Neotropical bellbirds * Crested Bellbird * New Zealand Bellbird...
, morepork (native owl). In the past the rare kokako
Kokako
The Kōkako is a forest bird which is endemic to New Zealand. It is slate-grey with wattles and a black mask. It is one of three species of New Zealand Wattlebird, the other two being the endangered Tieke and the extinct Huia...
(a blue-wattled bird) has been sighted.
Indigenous freshwater fish, apart from eels, are all small species and are caught as ‘whitebait’ in season. Introduced trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
are found in some rivers. The district is rich in sea life such as molluscs (pipi
Pipi
Pipi may refer to:*Plebidonax deltoides, an edible clam known as pipi in parts of Australia*Paphies australis, a mollusc endemic to New Zealand*Pipi A, a High Priest of Ptah during the Ancient Egyptian 21st Dynasty...
, tuatua, kina
Sea urchin
Sea urchins or urchins are small, spiny, globular animals which, with their close kin, such as sand dollars, constitute the class Echinoidea of the echinoderm phylum. They inhabit all oceans. Their shell, or "test", is round and spiny, typically from across. Common colors include black and dull...
, scallop), crayfish, edible fish such as snapper
Lutjanidae
Snappers are a family of perciform fish, mainly marine but with some members inhabiting estuaries, feeding in freshwater. Some are important food fish. One of the best known is the red snapper....
, kahawai and gurnard
Sea robin
Sea robins, also known as gurnard, are bottom-feeding scorpaeniform fishes in the family Triglidae. They get their name from their large pectoral fins, which, when swimming, open and close like a bird's wings in flight....
. Commercial aquaculture is beginning (mussel, oyster).
Early Maori history
The first known inhabitants of the district were probably members of the Tini o ToiToi (name)
Toi is a fairly common man's name in Māori and other Polynesian languages.The best known men named Toi are the following from Māori legendary history, who are sometimes confused with one another:...
people, who apparently derived from the Tākitimu
Takitimu
In several Māori traditions, the Tākitimu was one of the great Māori migration canoes that brought Polynesian migrants to New Zealand from Hawaiki. It was one of the seven canoes in the "Great Fleet hypothesis" proposed by historian Stephenson Percy Smith .-Māori Traditions:The Tākitimu appears in...
waka
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
which came to the Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
area from Taranaki. There followed, perhaps a few generations later, the Tainui
Tainui
Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato...
and Te Arawa
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas of New Zealand, with a population of around 40,000.The history of the Te Arawa people is inextricably linked to the Arawa canoe...
people, from the first of which the present Ngaitai tribe claim direct descent. Also in this period were migrations by the Nukutere waka from Taranaki, and the Rangimatoru waka.
Several more generations later, the Mataatua
Mataatua
In Māori tradition, Mataatua was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand. Māori traditions say that the Mataatua was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori settlements in New Zealand...
people arrived at Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
from a place called Parinuitera, which could be either Young Nick's Head
Young Nick's Head
Young Nick's Head is a headland at the southern end of Poverty Bay in New Zealand's North Island. It is clearly visible from the nearby city of Gisborne....
or a place on Ahuahu (Great Mercury Island)
Mercury Islands
The Mercury Islands lie off the northeast coast of New Zealand's North Island. They are located off the coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, and northeast of the town of Whitianga....
. The present-day Whakatohea and Whanau a Apanui tribes claim descent from the intermarriage of Mataatua with earlier migrants. The overland migration called Te Heke o Te Rangihouhiri, which eventually resulted in the Ngaiterangi
Ngaiterangi
Ngāi Te Rangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga.-External links:* Official website of...
tribe of Tauranga
Tauranga
Tauranga is the most populous city in the Bay of Plenty region, in the North Island of New Zealand.It was settled by Europeans in the early 19th century and was constituted as a city in 1963...
, also contributed to the population.
One of the earliest Whakatohea ancestors, Tarawa, deliberately concealed his origins and claimed to have swum to the district from across the sea, supported by supernatural fish he called his pets or children (‘pōtiki’). Coming ashore just west of Opotiki, he installed his pets into a spring, which thereby became imbued with his mana
Mana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
. The spring ‘o pōtiki mai tawhiti’ (‘of the children from faraway’) became famous, and the short form of the name later came to be applied to the district as a whole. Opōtiki therefore means (the place) of children.
Late eighteenth to early nineteenth century
The first contact between local Māori and Europeans was in 1769 when Captain James CookJames Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
passed down the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
coast. Early in the nineteenth century a few European and American traders and whalers began to visit.
The 1820s saw numerous well-armed invasions
Musket Wars
The Musket Wars were a series of five hundred or more battles mainly fought between various hapū , sometimes alliances of pan-hapū groups and less often larger iwi of Māori between 1807 and 1842, in New Zealand.Northern tribes such as the rivals Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua were the first to obtain...
by Ngapuhi
Ngapuhi
Ngāpuhi is a Māori iwi located in the Northland region of New Zealand, and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands and Whāngārei.Ngāpuhi has the largest affiliation of any New Zealand iwi, with 122,214 people registered , and formed from 150 hapu, with 55 marae.-Foundations:The founding...
war parties from Northland. Although the Opotiki tribes had begun to acquire firearms by that time, they were outgunned and had to retreat from the coast to the rugged forested interior.
The 1830s to 1840s were more peaceful and the tribes again returned to the coast to take advantage of trading opportunities with trading and whaling ships. Māori Christian missionaries began to instruct in literacy and religion. In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
was taken around to be signed, establishing British sovereignty in name at least. Soon, a few European (British and French) missionaries moved into the area. At this period, the village at Opotiki was known as Pā
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
Kowhai
Kowhai
Kowhai are small, woody legume trees in the genus Sophora native to New Zealand. There are eight species, S. microphylla being the most common. Kowhai trees grow throughout the country and are a common feature in New Zealand gardens. Outside of New Zealand, Kowhai tend to be restricted to mild...
. There were other important villages at Tunapāhore and Te Kaha.
The 1850s and early 1860s saw continued development. The Māori tribes took up European agricultural methods and crops, primarily wheat, pigs and peaches, which were traded with Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. There were still only a few Westerners living in the district, fewer still of whom were British by birth. Among these foreigners were Dr Albert Agassiz(1840-1910), distant cousin of the famous Swiss/American scientist Louis Agassiz
Louis Agassiz
Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz was a Swiss paleontologist, glaciologist, geologist and a prominent innovator in the study of the Earth's natural history. He grew up in Switzerland and became a professor of natural history at University of Neuchâtel...
, and Karl Völkner, a German missionary who had gone over to the Anglican Church
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
.
Warfare
The British invasion of the WaikatoInvasion of the Waikato
The Invasion of Waikato or Kingitanga Suppression Movement was a campaign during the middle stages of the New Zealand Wars, fought in the North Island of New Zealand from July 1863 to April 1864 between the military forces of the Colonial Government and a federation of Māori tribes known as the...
resulted in the Whakatohea tribe lending their support to anti-British forces. In 1864 a war party was sent to assist the related Ngaiterangi
Ngaiterangi
Ngāi Te Rangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga.-External links:* Official website of...
tribe, who had defeated the British at Gate Pā
Gate Pa
Gate Pā was the name of a Māori Pā or fortress built in 1864 only from the main British base of Camp Te Papa at Tauranga, during the Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Land Wars...
, but while making their way along the coast the war party was attacked by combined British and Te Arawa
Te Arawa
Te Arawa is a confederation of Māori iwi and hapu based in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty areas of New Zealand, with a population of around 40,000.The history of the Te Arawa people is inextricably linked to the Arawa canoe...
forces. The paramount chief of the Whakatohea, Te Aporotanga, was taken prisoner and then executed by the wife of an Arawa chief who had been killed in the battle. While this action was compatible with ancient Māori custom, the fighting had hitherto been conducted according to Christianized rules of engagement
Gate Pa
Gate Pā was the name of a Māori Pā or fortress built in 1864 only from the main British base of Camp Te Papa at Tauranga, during the Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Land Wars...
, and this was accordingly taken as a sign that the British were no longer to be considered as a civilized enemy.
So in accordance with ancient Māori custom, utu
Utu (Maori concept)
Utu is a Māori concept of reciprocation, or balance.To retain mana, both friendly and unfriendly actions require an appropriate response - hence utu covers both the reciprocation of kind deeds, and the seeking of revenge....
(revenge) was taken by killing the missionary Karl Völkner, who had been recruited as an agent by the British Governor, Sir George Grey
George Edward Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB was a soldier, explorer, Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Governor of Cape Colony , the 11th Premier of New Zealand and a writer.-Early life and exploration:...
, and who had been transmitting secret reports. This incident resulted in the invasion of Opotiki by British forces in 1865, and is described in detail elsewhere
Volkner Incident
The Völkner Incident describes the murder of the missionary Carl Sylvius Völkner in New Zealand in 1865 and the consequent reaction of the Government of New Zealand in the midst of the New Zealand land wars.-Background:...
. Within a few years the Opotiki district had been settled by military settlers, and the Maori tribes had been confined to villages with little land attached. A desultory guerilla war followed, led by Whakatohea chief Hira te Popo and Tuhoe
Tuhoe
Ngāi Tūhoe , a Māori iwi of New Zealand, takes its name from an ancestral figure, Tūhoe-pōtiki. The word tūhoe literally means "steep" or "high noon" in the Māori language...
chief Eru Tamaikowha, but they eventually surrendered and were given amnesty.
Warfare again erupted in 1870 when the guerilla chief Te Kooti
Te Kooti
Te Kooti Arikirangi Te Turuki was a Māori leader, the founder of the Ringatu religion and guerrilla.While fighting alongside government forces against the Hauhau in 1865, he was accused of spying. Exiled to the Chatham Islands without trial along with captured Hauhau, he experienced visions and...
shifted his operations
Te Kooti's War
Te Kooti's War was one of the New Zealand Wars, the series of conflicts fought between 1845 and 1872 between the Māori and the colonizing European settlers, often referred to as Pākehā. This particular conflict covered most of the East Cape region and the centre of the North Island of New Zealand...
to the area. For a few years he and his followers lived in the rugged Te Wera area in the extreme southwest of the Opotiki district. After an amnesty was granted he eventually moved to Ohiwa Harbour on the coast between Opotiki and Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
where he later died.
Recent history
When peace eventually came to the district, most of the cultivable land had been taken by British settlers and was converted to sheep and cattle (later dairy) farming. By the end of the nineteenth century a generation of both settlers and Māori had grown up together and there was some form of accommodation including intermarriage. The district lost men to the two World Wars, but an even greater blow was the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-1919 which devastated small villages.Because of the relatively small area of cultivable hinterland and a treacherous harbour entrance, early hopes of Opotiki town becoming a major centre for the Bay of Plenty
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty , often abbreviated to BOP, is a region in the North Island of New Zealand situated around the body of water of the same name...
were dashed. During the twentieth century the town suffered from repeated shifts of businesses and local government to Whakatane
Whakatane
Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...
, a situation which has only begun to reverse very recently with increasing population. Major floods in the 1950s and 1960s led to the protection of the town by levees (‘stopbanks’) which have successfully prevented any further inundations. A major boost to prosperity occurred with the kiwifruit
Kiwifruit
The kiwifruit, often shortened to kiwi in many parts of the world, is the edible berry of a cultivar group of the woody vine Actinidia deliciosa and hybrids between this and other species in the genus Actinidia....
boom of the late twentieth century.
External links
- The council's site
- Opotiki Information Centre
- East Cape i-site
- Photo of Opotiki-Gisborne Road c1928
- Photo of Captain Porter and Maori auxiliaries at Opotiki 1871