Tararua Range - History

History

The rugged terrain and frequently harsh weather of the Tararua Ranges served to discourage any substantial attempt at penetration by early Maori. Although there is archeological evidence of exploration by moa hunters as early as the twelfth century, the mountains remained a massive physical divide between the tribal settlements located along rivers, lakes and coastlines to the east and west. Some of the Ngati Mamoe (early Maori settlers on the neighboring Kapiti Coast) are reputed to have have taken refuge in the Tararua mountains after they were displaced by the Rangitane and Muaupoko iwi (tribal groups). The Ngati Mamoe survivors attained a mythical status as the patupaiarehe (fairy folk) of the Taruruas. In the 1820s the Muaupoko in turn were forced to flee to the ranges when under attack by the Ngati Toa led by Te Rauparaha. In spite of such intrusions, the mountain range remained the home of distant gods or hostile wild men (maero). As such, it was a special place to be respected but avoided.

In the 1870s a large potion of the ranges was sold to the New Zealand Government by a coalition of the Iwi in possession of the surrounding region. Specifically excluded from this "Tararua Block" purchase was an area of 1,000 acres reserved to protect the sacred lake Hapuakorari, the exact location of which remained uncertain. European settlers, like their Maori counterparts, found the steep ridges and deep valleys of the Tararua Range difficult of access and intimidating in scale. The range accordingly escaped the development of the fertile plains that bordered on it. In 1881 36,000 acres of the Tararua Block, including key catchment areas for four rivers, was classified as State Forest, subject to protection. Additional watersheds were added over the following decades, to create a Crown conservation reserve in excess of 250,000 acres. The scenic beauty of the Tararuas made the mountains a popular subject for paintings during the Victorian period - though largely romanticized and usually undertaken from a distance. By the 1920s, with the neighboring countryside largely settled, the potential of the ranges as an area for outdoor recreation rather than for exploitation began to be recognized.