Pohatu (Flea Bay)

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A story of the battle between warrior Tūtekahikura and Oinako, the Ngāti Māmoe chief, at Pohatu (Flea Bay).

Paekaroro Pā

The remnants of Paekaroro Pā (on the cliff edge at the head of Flea Bay) are evident through the charcoal-stained ground and middens dotted about the pā site. Sitting 30 metres above sea level, much of the pā was lost to the sea following a major slip in 1952.

Tūtekahikura fights Oinako, the Ngāti Māmoe chief

With the destruction of Parakākāriki Pā at Ōtanerito and the slaying of Tūtekawa at Waikākahi completed, Moki and his Ngāi Tahu raiders began to allot areas of the peninsula for themselves.

One warrior allocated land was Tūtekahikura (Tūtakakahikura). He left his family at Pōhatu and proceeded to explore around Akaroa harbour. At a stream near Akaroa he encountered Oinako, a Ngāti Māmoe chief.

The death of Oinako and Tūtekahikura

Oinako had escaped from the skirmish at Parakākāriki Pā. He lost his life in the battle with Tūtekahikura, beside the stream that bears his name.

Tūtekahikura later died in a duel with Ngāti Māmoe chief Tūtemākohu on the Taieri Plains.

Sources

• Jacobson H.C. Tales of Banks Peninsula, The Akaroa Mail 1914
• Ogilvie, Gordon. Banks Peninsula – Cradle of Canterbury, Phillips and King Publishers 2007
• Brailsford, Barry. The Tattooed Land, Stoneprint Press 1997
• Tau, Te Maire and Anderson, Atholl editors. Ngāi Tahu A Migration History, Bridget William Books 2008

Online publications

• Old Maori place names around Akaroa Harbour by Louis J. Vangioni; with supplementary notes by D. J. C. Pringle. (3 MB PDF)

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