Story: King Country region

Tainui landing site, Kāwhia

Tainui landing site, Kāwhia

Kāwhia is the place where the ancestral waka (canoe) Tainui landed for the last time – so it is sacred to the Tainui people. The waka was tied to this pōhutukawa tree, known as Tangi-te-korowhiti, and was later buried behind Maketū marae near the present-day township. The tree was still standing in the early 2000s. It is not known when this photograph was taken.

Using this item

Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury
Reference: MB 118/13099
Photograph by W. Beattie

Permission of the Macmillan Brown Library, University of Canterbury, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Kerryn Pollock, 'King Country region - Māori settlement and occupation', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/34838/tainui-landing-site-kawhia (accessed 1 May 2024)

Story by Kerryn Pollock, updated 1 Mar 2015