Fire destroys historic Maori meeting house

Press, 1 February 1983, Page 28

Fire destroys historic Maori meeting house

PA Hamilton Fire has destroyed one of the last surviving King Country meeting houses which served as places of instruction for young Maori chiefs and priests last century. Te Miringa Te Kakara, at Te Hape, near Bennedale, was built some time between 1850 and 1870. It was entirely without nails, screws, or wire, according to a member of the Historic Places Trust, Mr Malcolm Campin. The meeting house, held together entirely with pegs and lashing and having a totara bark thatched roof, was built in the shape of a cross. Although the marae does not belong to any particular tribe or family, the fire came as a blow to local Maori people who were soon to begin restoring the meeting house, one of four originals. Mr Campin said that although the long-disused building had looked “a mess,” it was in remarkably sound condition. The only rot in the timber had been at ground level. '. The building had no carvings and had never been painted. Although much of the precise history of the meeting house has been lost, it is known that it was not the first one on the site. Mr Campin believed.the site had been a place of learning for about 400 years.

One story has it that Te Miringa Te Kakara was built on the instructions of King Tawhiao. The last tohunga (priest) to run the school there, a man called Te Ra.

died in 1949. Another story has it that the feared Maori warrior, Te Kooti, and his followers once sought shelter there, but they were not made welcome.