Tapu Te Ranga Marae | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Marae |
Architectural style | Contemporary Maori |
Location | Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand |
Address | 44 Rhine Street, Island Bay, Wellington |
Coordinates | Coordinates: 41°19′53″S174°46′12″E / 41.3313°S 174.769918°E |
Construction started | 1974 |
Height | 131 feet (40 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 10 |
Tapu Te Ranga Marae is located in Island Bay, Wellington, New Zealand. The marae was founded by Bruce Stewart who lived there until his death in 2017. It was a tribute to Stewart's mother, Hinetai Hirini, and is listed as a heritage site . [1]
Tapu Te Ranga Marae was built by Bruce Stewart who "got out of jail with $25 and a dream" in 1974. [2] Upon release, he found that many young Māori had come to Wellington with the promise of jobs. However, many were unable to find work. He began picking them up in his van and taking them to workshops in the suburb of Newtown where they could learn to make furniture from recycled timbers. [3] Later, he began taking them to a community art space called The Workshop to learn the art of carving. [2]
In December 1974, a pākeha man by the name of Joseph "Taffy" Williamson was murdered on Hopper Street in the Wellington suburb of Te Aro after he provoked 18 year old Rufus Marsh by yelling racial slurs. [4] This led to media outrage and prompted then Mayor of Wellington, Michael Fowler, to visit Stewart. Fowler asked what could be done, and Stewart replied "we want to live Māori, that’s what the problem is, we want to live Māori.” [3]
Stewart leased 24 hectares of land from the Home of Compassion and construction of the marae began, continuing for 30 years. This was led by Bruce Stewart with help from his whānau, tradesmen, local youth, and gang members. [4]
The main building was built into a hillside, which was levelled by hand into seven sections using only pick and shovels. [3] Its frame was constructed in segments using wooden cases used to transport vehicles from Japan. [4] It also featured recycled timbers such as doors and stained-glass windows salvaged from demolition contracts. [4] [2]
The building was ten stories high and has been described as a "hand-crafted labyrinth of stairways and mystical rooms, of art and sculpture, a dream-land place." [2] It was named Pare Waaka. [5]
At 12.30am on Sunday 9 June 2019 the main building of the marae complex caught fire and was completely destroyed. There were a number of people staying in the building at the time, including a group of 27 children from the Ngaio Scouts and 9 adults. [6] All escaped unharmed. The fire was attended by over 50 firefighters. [7] It is thought that the fire started by a spark from a brazier getting into a storeroom. [8]
Māori culture is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture and, due to a large diaspora and the incorporation of Māori motifs into popular culture, it is found throughout the world. Within Māoridom, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori culture, the Māori-language suffix -tanga being roughly equivalent to the qualitative noun-ending -ness in English. Māoritanga has also been translated as "[a] Māori way of life." The term kaupapa, meaning the guiding beliefs and principles which act as a base or foundation for behaviour, is also widely used to refer to Māori cultural values.
A marae, malaʻe, meʻae or malae is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term also means cleared and free of weeds or trees. Marae generally consist of an area of cleared land roughly rectangular, bordered with stones or wooden posts perhaps with paepae (terraces) which were traditionally used for ceremonial purposes; and in some cases, a central stone ahu or a'u. In the Rapa Nui culture of Easter Island, the term ahu has become a synonym for the whole marae complex.
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa, it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand and the National Art Gallery. An average of more than 1.5 million people visit every year, making it the 26th-most-visited art gallery in the world. Te Papa operates under a bicultural philosophy, and emphasises the living stories behind its cultural treasures.
Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east.
Ōtaki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District of the North Island of New Zealand, situated half way between the capital city Wellington, 70 km (43 mi) to the southwest, and Palmerston North, 70 km (43 mi) to the northeast.
Island Bay is a coastal suburb of Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, situated 5 km (3.1 mi) south of the city centre.
Kakahi ) is a small King Country settlement about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) up the Whanganui River from Taumarunui, New Zealand. Founded as a sawmill town, it takes its name from the Māori word for the New Zealand freshwater mussel.
Bruce Richard Stewart was a New Zealand fiction writer and dramatist of Ngāti Raukawa Te Arawa descent. Stewart's work often expresses the anger, the confused loyalties, and the spiritual aspirations of late-twentieth-century Māori.
Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, and Pukepoto is between the two.
Tikitiki is a small town in Waiapu Valley on the north bank of the Waiapu River in the Gisborne Region of the North Island of New Zealand. The area in which the town resides was formerly known as Kahukura. By road, Tikitiki is 145 km (90 mi) north-northeast of Gisborne, 20 km (12 mi) northeast by north of Ruatoria, and 24 km (15 mi) south by east of Te Araroa. The name of the town comes from the full name of Māui, Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga. State Highway 35 passes through the town at the easternmost point of the New Zealand state highway network.
Toi whakairo or just whakairo (carving) is a Māori traditional art of carving in wood, stone or bone.
Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa or Māori Weavers New Zealand is the New Zealand national Māori weavers’ collective, which aims to foster and preserve Māori traditional textiles. It has played an important role in facilitating the gathering of weavers of Māori and Pacifica descent to meet, teach and learn from one another.
Rongomaraeroa is the marae of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and incorporates a contemporary wharenuiTe Hono ki Hawaiki. It is located on the museum's 4th floor overlooking Wellington harbour, and was officially opened on 30 November 1997.
The Māori people and Moriori people have 773 tribal marae around New Zealand. These grounds usually include a wharenui and are usually affiliated with iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes).
Māori Indians are an ethnic group in New Zealand of people with mixed Māori and Indian ancestry.
Waotu or Te Waotu is a rural community in the South Waikato District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.
Taki Rua is a theatre organisation based in Wellington, Aotearoa / New Zealand that has produced many contemporary Māori theatre productions. Taki Rua has been going since 1983 and has had several name changes over that time including The New Depot, Depot Theatre and Taki Rua / The Depot. The full current name is Taki Rua Productions. Since inception the mission of Taki Rua has been to showcase work from Aotearoa. Because of this and the longevity of Taki Rua many significant New Zealand actors, directors, writers, designers and producers have part of the history including Riwia Brown, Nathaniel Lees, Rachel House and Taika Waititi.
Helen Pearse-Otene is a New Zealand Māori playwright, film actor, author and psychologist.
Barbara Jean Mitcalfe née Fougère was a New Zealand conservationist, botanist and educator. She is best known for being an expert field botanist, for her conservation work in and around the Wellington region, and for helping to establish the first Māori preschool.