Papakura
Papakura is a suburb of South Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, approximately south of the Auckland City Centre. It is under the authority of the Auckland Council.
The area was settled by Tāmaki Māori in the 13th or 14th centuries, who utilised the resources of the Hunua Ranges and Manukau Harbour. A defensive pā was constructed on Pukekiwiriki, and the surrounding area developed into gardens. By the latter 18th century, the tribal identities of Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāti Tamaoho and Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua began developing, among Waiohua descendant iwi of the Manukau Harbour, who lived seasonally in the Papakura area.
The first permanent European residents moved to Papakura in 1846. The town developed significantly during the construction of the Great South Road, and was a military outpost during the Invasion of the Waikato. During the latter 19th century, Papakura became a centre for the kauri gum trade, logging and later dairy farming. In 1938, the town had grown enough to become the Borough of Papakura, independent from the surrounding Manukau County.
From the 1950s, Papakura and the surrounding areas urbanised, in part due to the construction of the Auckland Southern Motorway. By 1987, Papakura had become a part of the greater urban sprawl of Auckland. In 1975, Papakura became a city, but lost this status in 1989 due to local government reforms.
Etymology
Papakura is a Māori language word typically translated to mean "Red Earth" or "Red Flats". While kura is usually interpreted to be a reference to the red soil of the area, ethnographer George Graham offers an alternative translation of Papakura, "Flat of the Moa". Graham believed that kura was a reference to the North Island giant moa, known for its red plumage, that could come down from the Papakura Hills to feed in the Papakura lowlands. A name associated with the location of the modern township of Papakura is Wharekawa, while the Coles Crescent area adjacent to the Pahurehure Inlet was known as Waipapa.Geography
Papakura is located on the shores of the Pahurehure Inlet, a southeastern inlet of the Manukau Harbour. It is located between the suburb of Takanini to the north, and the rural settlements of Drury to the south and Karaka to the west. Papakura is surrounded by Pahurehure, Rosehill, Ōpaheke and Red Hill, variously considered independent suburbs or as areas within Papakura.To the east of Papakura is Pukekiwiriki, a basalt volcano within the South Auckland volcanic field that erupted an estimated 1,000,000 years ago. Lava flows from the eruption flowed west towards Papakura. Further east of Papakura are the Hunua Ranges, a regional park in the Auckland and Waikato regions.
Before the arrival of humans, northern Papakura and Takanini were predominantly wetlands and peat bogs, while southern Papakura and Drury was home to a dense kauri-dominated forest. Kirks Bush in Papakura is a remnant of this forest.
History
Māori history
The Auckland Region has been settled by Māori since around the 13th or 14th centuries. Many Māori migration canoes visited the wider area, including the Matahourua, Aotea, Mātaatua, Tainui, Tākitimu, Tokomaru, Te Wakatūwhenua and Moekākara. Papakura was the location of the Papakura portage, which allowed people to haul waka between the southeastern Manukau Harbour at Papakura in the west to the Wairoa River in the east, likely along the path of the Old Wairoa Road. Other inland ara existed between the Pahurehure Inlet, connecting to the Waikato in the south.Pukekiwiriki has been occupied since the arrival of migratory waka, and is associated with the Tainui ancestress Mārama, who was the second wife of Hoturoa, captain of the Tainui waka. She settled permanently at the pā after quarrelling with Hoturoa. The site became a home for the Tāmaki Māori people who descended from her, known as Ngā Mārama, who later became a part of the Waiohua confederation.
The Papakura area was home to the kāinga of Kirikiri, Te Aparangi and Ōpaheke, which were protected by the fortified pā at Pukekiwiriki, and by Te Maketū pā to the south. Tāmaki Māori of the Papakura area thrived by utilising the resources of the Manukau Harbour, forests of the Hunua Ranges and by creating large-scale gardens, primarily on the slopes of Pukekiwiriki.
Waiohua and the Musket Wars
Over time, the tribal identities of Ngā Iwi and Ngā Riki emerged, primarily for those who descended from the Tainui and Arawa waka. In the 17th century, three major tribes of Tāmaki Makaurau, Ngā Iwi, Ngā Oho and Ngā Riki, joined to form Waiōhua, led by the rangatira Huakaiwaka. The union lasted for three generations, and was centred around the pā of Maungawhau and later Maungakiekie on the Auckland isthmus.Around the year 1740, a conflict between Ngāti Whātua and Waiohua led to the death of paramount chief Kiwi Tāmaki. Many Waiohua of the isthmus and South Auckland area sought refuge with their Waikato Tainui relatives to the south. Waiohua gradually returned to the southern Manukau Harbour, including Papakura, living in dispersed villages based on seasonally available resources. During this time, the tribal identities of Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāti Tamaoho and Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua developed.
In the 1820s, the threat of Ngāpuhi war parties from the north during the Musket Wars caused the Papakura area to become deserted. Waiohua descendant tribes relocated to the Waikato under the protection of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, returning gradually during the early 1830s. By 1835, Te Ākitai Waiohua had reestablished a presence at Kirikiri, a kāinga on the western slopes of Pukekiwiriki.
Modern-day iwi and hapū who associate with the Papakura area include Te Ākitai Waiohua, Ngāti Tamaoho, Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki and Waikato Tainui hapū Ngāti Pou.
Early colonial period
In January 1842, the Crown purchased the Papakura block from Ngāti Taihaua, a hapū with ties to Ngāi Tai and Te Ākitai Waiohua, that included rangatira Īhaka Takaanini. The area had not been surveyed before purchase, and its estimated size ranges from to. The crown created a reserve for Te Ākitai Waiohua to the south of Papakura.The first European settler mentioned in newspapers is George Rich, who is described as farming and hunting wild boars at Papakura in 1844. The first permanent European residents of Papakura were the McLennan, Cole and Willis families, who arrived between 1846 and 1848 to establish farms at Papakura. Welsh immigrant George Cole became known as the "father of Papakura" in later years, and is remembered by the name of a street in Papakura, Coles Crescent. The tract of land that was initially purchased was subdivided in 1853, with the street layout that was built initially remaining largely in place today. Cole established an inn for travellers in the Papakura area.
Great South Road and the Invasion of the Waikato
In 1861, Governor George Grey ordered the construction of the Great South Road further into the Waikato, due to fears of potential invasion of Waikato Tainui and concerns about the Māori King Movement. The road preceded despite objections from Te Ākitai Waiohua to having the road constructed through their lands.The construction of Great South Road led to a population boom in Papakura, which became a military outpost staging point for the war. Many soldiers lived in Papakura village or camped in the surrounding area, and businesses made profit by serving the soldiers. On 9 July 1863, due to fears of the Māori King Movement, Governor Grey proclaimed that all Māori living in the South Auckland area needed to swear loyalty to the Queen and give up their weapons. Most people refused due to strong links to Tainui, leaving for the south before the Government's Invasion of the Waikato. Small numbers of people remained, in order to tend to their farms and for ahi kā. Most Māori occupants of the Papakura area felt they had no choice due to their strong ties to Tainui and Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, and were forced to flee to the Waikato in the south. While fleeing, Te Ākitai Waiohua rangatira Ihaka Takanini and his family were captured by his former neighbour, Lieutenant-Colonel Marmaduke Nixon, and taken prisoner on Rakino Island, where Ihaka Takanini died.
By 1864, the battlefront of the war had moved south of Papakura. The military barracks and stables in the town were disbanded, and local residents struggled, no longer able to supply the soldiers. After the war, the Crown confiscated 1.2 million acres of Māori land around the Waikato, including Waiohua land at Papakura. The former residents of the Manukau Harbour began returning to the area in 1866, with the Native Compensation Court returning small portions of land in 1867. Most land was kept by the crown as reserves, or sold on to British immigrant farmers. This included land in Papakura that was promoted to European farming families, who arrived in the mid-1860s.
Growing township of Papakura
The village of Papakura grew in the 1860s and 1870s, with early industries including logging, farming, kauri gum digging, farming, and providing services for travellers along the Great South Road. By the early 1870s, the Papakura Hotel and Globe Hotel had become prominent structures in the town. In 1875, Papakura railway station opened, linking the town to Auckland to the north and Hamilton to the south. The opening of the railway station helped grow the profitability of dairy farming, which became a major industry in Papakura in the 1880s. By 1882, Papakura had grown enough to become a town district.The 1890s saw a major increase in kauri gum diggers visiting Papakura and Takanini, many of whom were Māori and Dalmatian immigrants. Papakura township was adjacent to the large Ardmore Gumfield, which stretched from Manurewa to Clevedon. By the 1900s, the gumfields started being converted into farmland and orchards.
In 1911, the first controlled powered flight in New Zealand took place in Papakura. The flight took place inside a single paddock within the racecourse of the now-defunct Papakura Racing Club. The flight was piloted by Vivian Walsh and was carried out in a Howard Wright 1910 Biplane, the parts for which were imported from England in 1910 and assembled by members of the Auckland Aeroplane Syndicate.
Papakura struggled to grow as a community between 1900 and 1919, due to repeated fires breaking out in the community, as well as the effects of World War I and the 1918–1920 flu pandemic. By 1914, the town had grown to have a population of 700. After the war, the Papakura Town District unveiled a memorial statue in 1921. The town flourished in the 1920s. By 1936 the population had grown to 1,793, and in 1938, the area had grown enough that Papakura became an independent borough.
The Papakura Military Camp was established on the outskirts of the town in 1939 and remains an important base for the New Zealand Army, being the home of the New Zealand Special Air Service. The camp was initially built by the Stevenson family construction business.