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"The Otuataua Stonefields are of great significance to Tainui Maori and the
descendants of te Wai O Hua who were the first people to settle in the area.
Descendants of the inhabitants of the Otuataua Stonefields (Wai O Hua) still
live adjacent to the Stonefields at Makaurau Marae. The Otuataua Stonefields
are a
waahi tapu site and contain Puketaapapa (generally referred to as
Pukeiti), the mountain to which Makaurau Marae residents refer when
recounting their
whakapapa (genealogy)."
"At Otuataua there was an extensive settlement [by the 18th Century], which
included an expansive and sophisticated gardening system on the Stonefields.
In some areas of Otuataua, there were rectangular gardening plots with a
radial system of stone boundaries built close to the cone. However, in areas
where the ground was uneven, the gardeners used the natural ridges as the
basis of walls and added loose stones to them. The gardens also contained
earth and stone mounds, which were piled up by gardeners and used as
specialised gardening plots with added organic matter to create a warm,
moisture retaining microclimate for tropical plants by using the naturally
heat absorbing properties of rock..."
"Today, some of the direct descendants of Te Wai O Hua reside next to the
Otuataua Stonefields at the Makaurau Marae located at Oruarangi Road,
Mangere. Makaurau Marae is one of the oldest and most important traditional
Marae in the Tamaki area..."
"The Otuataua Stonefields are one of two remaining volcanic fields that once
covered 8000 hectares in the Tamaki isthmus. These fields were once densely
settled and cultivated by Maori. Settlements on these fields were probably
the largest and most densely populated in New Zealand. The remnants of these
settlements have been almost fully destroyed over the last 150 years by
urbanisation and farming..."
"The Stonefields are also one of the very few examples of an entire
stonefields..."
"The Otuataua Stonefields provide one of the few remaining examples of a
landscape that provided all the necessary resources for Maori settlement..."
(Manukau City Council Otuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve Draft Management
Plan)
This material has been produced by UNITEC Institute of Technology
under contract to the Ministry of Education.
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