The Story of Kawerau

Te Ao Hou, April 1955, Page 9

The Mill. (sparrow industrial pictures ltd.) The Story of Kawerau This year the world will be watching with much interest the opening at Kawerau of New Zealand's greatest industrial enterprise. In a small valley near the Tarawera river mouth some £15 millon have been spent in building a giant pulp and paper mill, as well as the country's largest sawmill. Even greater has been the country's effort in growing the 260,000 acres of forest that supply the mill, building railroads, houses and a harbour, establishing a power and geothermal steam supply and other facilities. The Maori people have a great stake and a deep interest in the past as well as the future of Kawerau. A tribal boundary between the Arawa and Mataatua canoe areas, the Tarawera river is particularly rich in history, reaching back as far as the arrival on the scene of the mountain Putauaki (Mount Edgecumbe) which casts its sombre shadow over Kawerau in the mornings. Long ago Putauaki lived with his wife Tarawera, a mountain upstream. After years of married happiness, Putauaki began to feel restless. His roving eye caught sight of Whakaari (White Island), an enchanting little lady who enticed him and signalled to him with her puffs of smoke. She teased him so much that one night, driven crazy with love for her, Putauaki deserted his wife and went to Whakaari. Cautiously he tiptoed away, but his daughter heard him and followed him. She asked where he was going, but feeling ashamed of his plans he did not answer her. All night, the child tugged at him. This made travelling dreadfully slow—so

The site of Kawerau township as it was in 1952. (n.z. forest service photograph) slow, that the sun caught him where he now stands. In the full light of day he could not go on and advertise his intentions to the world. He looked back and saw his wife weeping for him. This made him more ashamed. He could not go forward and he could not go back; so he sayed where he still is, with his child. Tarawera still weeps for him and her tears form the Tarawera river. The child is the foothill to Putauaki. Tuwharetoa spent most of his life at Kawerau and also died there. His shrouded body was entombed in a hollow totara at Te Atuareretahi, a few miles from Kawerau. As the tree grew in later years, the gap closed up. The tree is still growing and can be found by some of the local people, but they are not at all eager to point it out. The Maori wars, the Tarawera eruption and intermarriage with other tribes help to explain the smallness of the present Maori population of Kawerau. Mrs Monica Hardman, office worker with Fletcher-Merritt-Raymond, who are building the mill, told Te Ao Hou that there are about 150 at the pa, and about three quarters of these get their living from mill construction work. The Kawerau people took the government side during the Hauhau wars. Their land was included in the blanket order confiscating a large area of Maori land in the Bay of Plenty, but under this order loyal hapu were still allowed to keep their land. The Kawerau people accordingly had their land given back to them after long negotiations. Most of it was later included in the Putauaki Maori Land Development Scheme, consisting of some 10,000 acres, partly now in full production. Unfortunately, it was found not to be particularly good farm land. Although it gives a splendid first strike of grass, drainage through the pumice soil is too easy to allow grass to do well for long. Just at present, the scheme carries about 2,000 sheep and 250 head of cattle on a grassed area of 1,000 acres.