Manurewa

History

Matukutūreia and Matukutūruru were home to two hilltop pā, collectively known as Matukurua. where crops such as kūmara and bracken fern root were grown. The Manurewa area was settled by Ngā Riki, who were one of the three Tāmaki Māori groups who joined to form the Waiohua in the 17th and 18th-centuries. During this time, the two pā were home to the Ngāi Huatau hapū of Waiohua, The chief Huarangi was based at Matukutūruru with his wife Takawai of Ngāi Tahuhu. After her death, he married Kohe, a high ranking woman from Ngāti Pāoa, a union that was widely disapproved by the hapū. This dissent eventually led to a division in the family, with the children of Takawai settling at Matukutūruru, and Huarangi moving with Kohe to Matukutūreia. Ngāti Whātua was significantly smaller than the Waiohua confederation and chose to focus life at Onehunga, Māngere and Ōrākei, meaning that Waiohua were able to re-establish a presence in South Auckland. and Te Ākitai Waiohua. In January 1836 missionary William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between Tāmaki Māori chiefs, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero and Turia of Ngāti Te Rau, covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland between Ōtāhuhu and Papakura. The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. Māori continued to live in South Auckland, unchanged by this sale. Fairburn was criticised for the sheer size of the purchase, and in 1842 the Crown significantly reduced the size of his land holdings, and the Crown partitioned much of the land for European settlers. Clendon never lived or visited the area, but sold 2,000 acres to the Martin brothers, who subdivided the land in the mid-1900s. Much of the Martin brothers' land became modern-day Manurewa. Work on…

Geography

Manurewa is located in South Auckland, inland from the south-eastern Manukau Harbour, north of the Pahurehure Inlet. Manurewa is south of the Puhinui Creek, and north of the Papakura Stream. Manurewa is at the southern border of the Auckland volcanic field. Two volcanoes are located to the north in Wiri: Matukutūreia (also known as McLaughlins Mountain), which erupted an estimated 48,000 years ago, and Matukutūruru (Wiri Mountain), which erupted an estimated 30,000 years ago. Matukutūruru was quarried, primarily by the New Zealand Railways Corporation.

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  9,192
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  8,150
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  7,203
• Welcome Swallow

  Hirundo neoxena Gould, 1842 · Aves
  6,858
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,436
• Kelp Gull

  Larus dominicanus M.H.K.Lichtenstein, 1823 · Aves
  6,219
• Tui

  Prosthemadera novaeseelandiae (J.F.Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  6,152
• Australasian Swamphen

  Porphyrio melanotus Temminck, 1820 · Aves
  5,676

Most recent

• M 4.6 — 2023-02-02
  North Island of New Zealand
• M 2.9 — 2011-07-01
  5 km NNW of Tamaki, New Zealand
• M 4 — 2011-02-20
  9 km NNE of Waihi, New Zealand
• M 4 — 2007-03-13
  26 km NNW of Coromandel, New Zealand
• M 3.8 — 2007-02-21
  31 km NE of Murrays Bay, New Zealand
• M 4.5 — 2007-02-21
  30 km NE of Murrays Bay, New Zealand