Pakipaki

Pakipaki is a pā kāinga village and rural community in the Hastings District and Hawke's Bay Region of New Zealand's North Island.

[2] The modern pā kāinga village of Pakipaki was founded in the 1860s by the rangatira chief Urupene Pūhara with the first town plan laid out in 1862.

With the establishment of the railway and the building of a hotel nearby, Pakipaki became a centre for Māori politics, religious debate and significant gatherings.

[clarification needed] At the Rotorua sitting of the Māori Parliament the band marched to meet and escort all visiting parties to the open space in the pā in front of the great carved house, Tama Te Kapua.

Frequently the band discoursed select pieces, to the delight of all the residents and visitors; and also gave entertainments instrumental, song, dance, and haka to large and appreciative audiences.

In October 2020, the Government committed $6,020,910 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade a group of 18 Heretaunga marae, including Houngarea, Taraia, and Mihiroa.

[8] After some days events 37 soldier recruits from the East Coast were farewelled as they marched to the Pakipaki Railway Station to travel to camp.

The wall is emblazoned with the flags of Britain, France and the Australian Merchant Navy above the date 16 March 1916, commemorating the dedication and opening of Houngarea.

'The Tāwirirangi Dining Hall was opened by Paul Reeves, Governor-General of New Zealand, on 16 March 1986 as a part of the 70th anniversary celebrations of Houngarea Whare Rūnanga.

Each side of the gates holds a black granite plaque with a Remembrance Roll for enlisted service people from Pakipaki that have served overseas, with war dead being marked by a cross.

On 18 October 1968, the Tōmoana whānau gifted the waiata of Paraire Tomoana, E Pari Rā, to the Royal New Zealand Navy at Houngarea, after the consecration of the new Bishop of Aotearoa, Reverend Manu Augustus Bennett.

Pūhara is acknowledged as the Māori Benefactor of the first Catholic Mission in Hawke's Bay, which was established at Pakowhai by the Society of Mary (Marists).

Following the death of Pūhara during the Pakiaka Skirmishes of 1857-58 the Marist Priests moved to land thy had purchased at Meeanee, and the Māori Mission fell into abeyance until the arrival of Mēri Hōhepa Venerable Suzanne Aubert at Port Ahuriri from Auckland aboard the S.S. Lord Ashley on 15 February 1871.

Already eleven years in New Zealand, and accustomed to Northland Māori, her arrival to Hawke’s Bay was to signal a new chapter in her life as a missionary, nurse, chemist, teacher, and linguist.

The most notable feature of her work during these years was her constant visiting of hapū tribes, when she walked thousands of miles where no European man would venture alone.

Mēri Hōhepa could regularly be seen walking the shores of the old Te Whanganui-a-Orotū Ahuriri Inner Harbour and wetlands of Pakipaki, learning the medicinal uses of native plants from the old and wise, returning to Meeanee to experiment with herbal remedies.

In anticipation of the arrival of Father Soulas, Mēri Hōhepa compiled an English-Māori dictionary and French-Māori phrase book, which she later published in 1885 as her New and Complete Manual of Māori Conversation.

For her final three years in Hawke's Bay, Mēri Hōhepa permanently resided in Pakipaki to strengthen the Mission there, with a schoolhouse and presbytery built alongside her little Church.

The entry in her Aide Memoire for 24 June 1883 simply states, “I am leaving Meeanee” Without formal farewells, Mēri Hōhepa left Hawke’s Bay and on 2 July passed through the Manawatū Gorge on her way to Whanganui.

She would quote in her letter writing: “My 12 years in Hawke's Bay were the happiest time of my life.” Mēri Hōhepa Suzanne Aubert resided at Pakipaki 1879-1883.

In 1878, as a significant turning point for the fate of the Māori Mission, a hui was held at Pakipaki, hosted by the chief Urupene Puhara.

Under the shadow of the wooden Anglican Saint Luke's Church at Pakipaki, Mēri Hōhepa reminded Urupene of his father Pūhara Hawaiikirangi, the first benefactor of the Māori Mission at Pakowhai, who was baptised in his own blood on the battlefield of Pakiaka in 1857.

Mēri Hōhepa kept her promises made to Urupene with the arrival of the French priest Christophe Soulas in 1879, and shortly afterwards, the opening and blessing of the little Church of the Immaculate Conception at Pakipaki on 8 June 1880.

In addition to the subscriptions collected from Fr Soulas, Mēri Hōhepa personally financed and furnished everything needed for the new church and was very proud of it.

The 1968 Church of the Immaculate Conception was designed by John Scott (architect) and built under the direction of Father Kerins of the Society of Mary, who was Superior of the Hawke's Bay Māori Mission at the time.

The memorial is a grotto for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary with an inscription dedicated to the foundation of the Roman Catholic Church in Hawke's Bay and the establishment of the Māori Mission at Pakipaki.

The Foundation Stone reads:IN MEMORY OF Fathers: Baty, Lampila, Regnier, Soulas, Séon, Le Pretre, De Lach.

The church is built from limestone taken from Tūhinapō (Napier Prison Quarry) and Pakipaki, and was carted by Goffin himself, who hand-cut each stone onsite.

On the same day Bishop Frederick Bennett consecrated the entrance gates and supporting stone wall as a memorial to soldiers that died during the First World War.

[21][22] Mihiroa Marae operate a training centre that teaches traditional artforms of whakairo carving, rāranga weaving, and mahi toi craft arts.