Okoki Road sign (2023). Rachel Sonius. Word on the Street image collection.
Okoki Road sign (2023). Rachel Sonius. Word on the Street image collection.
Okoki Road runs from inland Taranaki to State Highway 3, just northeast of Urenui.
It was named after one of the oldest pā sites on the Taranaki coast, constructed by Ngāti Mutunga. The fortified pā was in turn named after one of three canoes that tradition says brought the first inhabitants to the region.
The Battle of Motunui, between Taranaki and Waikato iwi, was fought below Okoki Pā in 1822. Led by chief Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, later to become the first Māori king, thousands of invading Waikato were attempting to rescue a party of their warriors besieged at Pukerangiora Pā on the Waitara River. Ngāti Mutunga were aided by members of Ngāti Toa and their leader Te Rauparaha, and although they were victorious, continued confrontation led to the abandonment of Okoki when many Ngāti Mutunga migrated to the Chatham Islands.
Despite a petition from recently-returned members of the iwi, the pā site was acquired by the government under the Scenery Preservation Act in 1907. The New Plymouth Scenic Reserves Board took control of the site in 1923 but in 2006 it was returned to Ngāti Mutunga as part of their Treaty settlement.
Terraces, defensive ditches and dozens of rua kopihi (storage pits) can still be seen dotted around the site, which is 400 metres long and 150 metres wide. The tihi or top platform of the pā sat on a crescent-shaped ridge more than 60 metres above the Urenui River, which flows around its eastern and southern sides.
A wide variety of native trees and shrubs grow in the vicinity. Local Māori used the silvery undersides of ponga fronds to mark tracks through the bush at night, the hard timber of pūriri trees to make palisades and dye from the kōwhai tree to colour flax.
What is today the Okoki Pa Historic Reserve also features a memorial to Te Rangi Hiroa (Sir Peter Buck). The famous doctor and anthropologist died in Honolulu in 1951 and his ashes were finally laid to rest in an impressive ceremony at Okoki on 8 August 1954.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
Please do not reproduce these images without permission from Puke Ariki.
Contact us for more information or you can order images online here.
