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National Heritage Project
The Tairawhiti/Eastland Region of New Zealand has long been the preserve of many unique qualities - the special geographic location as the first region to see the sunrise, the landing place of a canoe from the Great Migration, the singular event in history of the first landing site in New Zealand of a European explorer and the meeting of Maori and European cultures, plus the existing, uncommercialised culture of both iwi and pakeha.
When considered as a package, these factors combine to offer a unique destination and experience for the interactive traveler who wants to discover something different from the more usual recreational attractions shared by other areas such as sand, surf, fishing, golf and vineyards. The Tairawhiti region has much to offer as a niche heritage tourism destination for the traveler with an interest in culture and history and with the spending power to benefit the region as a whole.
In 2001 the Tairawhiti Museum realized the opportunity to recognize and build on all these factors through the development of a heritage project of national significance.
Preliminary work has now been completed and all interested parties are in agreement with the concept for the National Heritage Project as a development of national interest and major cultural and economic potential. It is of dual interest and importance to both Maori and Pakeha.
The parameters of the Project will focus on the foreshore, the mouth of the Turanganui River and network of inter-connected sites and will encompass the following:
- Recognition of the Turanganui River mouth as one of the world's greatest and most potent voyaging sites. It is the landing place of the Horouta canoe from the Great Migration, celebrating the achievements of the Polynesian star navigators;
- The place where Englishman, Captain James Cook, his companions and crew first came ashore in New Zealand, heralding the tradition of European exploration and discovery;
- The site where Tupaia, the Ra'iatean high priest-navigator who sailed with and guided Cook, first met Maori, marking the links between local people and their ancestral homelands;
- Here, Captain Cook and a local man saluted each other with a hongi on the rock, Te Toka-a-Taiau-the first greeting between a Maori and a European;
- The significance of Te Toka-a-Taiau is an important aspect of the Heritage Project. Blasted in 1887 by the port company to clear the channel into the harbour, the exact location of the rock has recently been established by the Tairawhiti Museum by combining old charts, maps and aerial photographs. A spiritual gathering place, a mooring place of voyaging waka, as well as the first meeting place of Maori and Pakeha, a territorial point between Ngati Porou and Ngati OneOne, Te Toka-a-Taiau will be recognised as part of the project along the Western foreshore of the Turanganui River Mouth;
- Development of a facility centre located at the South Western side of the Turanganui adjacent to the Waikanae Motor Camp. This centre will focus on the voyaging culture of the Tairawhiti and will provide a focal point for tourists to obtain information, view exhibitions and hear the stories and traditions of the area.
As the only National Historic Reserve on mainland New Zealand the landing site warrants greater heritage protection, recognition and interpretation. It is a sacred site for all New Zealanders, to be celebrated with pride, and treated with dignity.
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