Māori Culture in Gisborne
What Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and Tairāwhiti mean, the waka landing places, Hikurangi, marae and the iwi of the region.
Gisborne is Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, the place named by the ancestor Kiwa, at the heart of Tairāwhiti. Te Ara says four tribes hold mana whenua here: Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, and the rohe of Ngāti Porou reaches from the East Coast to the Tūranganui River in the city. Here’s where to experience Māori culture in Gisborne: taonga at the museum, the landing places of the waka, Hikurangi, marae, the iwi, te reo and what the names mean.
Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and Tairāwhiti
One tradition in Te Ara tells how Kiwa arrived on the Tākitimu canoe and waited so long for the Horouta to arrive that he named its landing place Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, the long waiting place of Kiwa. Tairāwhiti, the name for the wider region, means the coast or tide of the shining sun.
Te Kurī a Pāoa
The white headland known in English as Young Nick’s Head, named for Pāoa of the Horouta and inside the rohe of Ngāi Tāmanuhiri.
Waipaoa
Wai-o-Pāoa, the river named for Pāoa of the Horouta.
Te Toka-a-Taiau
A revered tribal boundary marker that once stood in the channel of the Tūranganui River.
Hikurangi
The maunga of Ngāti Porou: Ko Hikurangi te maunga, ko Waiapu te awa, ko Ngāti Porou te iwi.
Ways to experience Māori culture in Gisborne
See taonga at the museum, walk the landing places of the waka, go up Hikurangi with Ngāti Porou guides, or join a tour to Uawa. Check with each operator for dates and prices.
Experiences and museums
Tairāwhiti Museum
Closed Easter Friday, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Adults $5; 12 years and under and Friends of the Museum free; free entry for local residents.
Plan your visitC Company Memorial House
A memorial to C Company of the 28th Māori Battalion, owned and operated by Ngā Taonga a Ngā Tama Toa Trust. Free entry; call ahead in winter on 06 281 0478.
Visit detailsTipuna Tours
An iwi-owned operator offering cultural and historic guided tours. Their Māori Cultural Tour visits a marae and the historic Tolaga Bay wharf, from $100.
Find out moreMaunga Hikurangi Tours
Ngāti Porou-guided 4WD trips to the summit of Hikurangi, past nine whakairo (carvings). The operator says it is the only tour company authorised to drive up the mountain. The sunrise experience is $299.
Find out moreAt your own pace
Puhi Kai Iti / Cook Landing National Historic Reserve
It commemorates the Horouta and Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru waka as well as Cook’s 1769 landing. The Ikaroa sculpture honours the navigator Māia and Puhi-Kai-Iti, his house of learning, and nine pou stand in remembrance of the Māori killed during Cook’s encounter.
Read our guideTūpapa Heritage Trail
A self-guided walk with ten markers telling the stories of tangata whenua and the 1769 encounters, with an app in English and te reo Māori. Launched in April 2019.
Read our guideTūranga Whakamana, Heipipi Endeavour Park
Te Tauihu Tūranga Whakamana, a symbolic canoe prow in the city centre designed by Derek Lardelli and Te Aturangi Nepia-Clamp.
Read our guideGisborne/Tūranga Heritage Trail
Passes the site of Te Toka-a-Taiau, the revered tribal boundary marker that once stood in the channel of the Tūranganui River, and the Te Maro sculpture by Nick Tupara at the foot of Tītīrangi.
Tairāwhiti TrailsJoin in
Learn te reo Māori
Classroom and online courses with no fees, from beginner level.
See the classesMāori events through the year
Waitangi Day
A public holiday. In 2027 it falls on a Saturday and is observed on Monday 8 February for those who don’t usually work Saturdays. Check local listings for commemorations in Tairāwhiti.
Matariki public holiday
Matariki falls on Friday 25 June in 2027. See how all 20 Explore cities celebrate in Matariki in New Zealand.
Marae in and around Gisborne
Marae are the gathering places of hapū and iwi. They are not visitor attractions: you visit a marae when you’re invited, or by arrangement with the marae, often with a group, a school or an event. Each marae has its own kawa (protocol), so ask your hosts what they expect.
Te Kurī a Tuatai (Awapuni Pā)
A marae of Rongowhakaata hapū, with the wharenui Whareroa.
Te Kāhui MāngaiManutūkē marae
Rongowhakaata marae at Manutūkē include Manutuke (Te Poho o Rukupo), Pāhou (Te Poho o Taharakau), Whakato (Te Mana o Turanga) and Ohako (Te Kiko o te Rangi).
Read our guideTākitimu, Waituhi
A marae of Te Aitanga ā Māhaki, with the wharenui Te Poho o Whakarau Oratanga a Tamure.
Read our guideTe Kāhui Māngai lists many more marae of Ngāti Porou up the coast and of Te Aitanga ā Māhaki inland, including Māngatu at Whatatutu. Our Whatatutu guide.
How a welcome usually goes
- GatherThe visitors gather together outside the marae before the welcome begins. Don’t walk on until you’re called.
- KarangaA woman from the hosts calls you on, and a kaikaranga (caller) from your group answers. Walk on together as the calling continues.
- Whaikōrero and waiataSpeeches from hosts and visitors, each followed by a song.
- KohaA gift, usually money in an envelope, laid down by your last speaker.
- Hongi and harirūShake hands and press noses with the hosts.
- KaiA shared meal ends the welcome and lifts the tapu of the pōwhiri.
The iwi of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa and Tairāwhiti
In the words of Tūpapa, presented by the tangata whenua Ngāti Oneone, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Rongowhakaata and Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, their four tribes descend from the people who arrived on the waka Horouta, Tākitimu and Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru. Ngāti Porou’s rohe runs up the East Coast, Mai Pōtikirua ki Te Toka a Taiau, from near Lottin Point to the mouth of the Tūranganui River.
Rongowhakaata
In their own words, Rongowhakaata are mana whenua of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, with a rohe from Te Wherowhero Lagoon inland to Te Arai and north past Puhi Kai Iti to Pouawa, including the city centre. Their deed of settlement with the Crown was signed in 2011.
Their siteTe Aitanga ā Māhaki
Te Kāhui Māngai lists their marae across the Waipaoa and inland valleys, including Tākitimu at Waituhi and Māngatu at Whatatutu.
Te Kāhui MāngaiNgāi Tāmanuhiri
Their rohe runs south along the coast from the mouth of the Waipaoa and takes in Te Kurī a Pāoa. Their deed of settlement with the Crown was signed in 2011.
Te Kāhui MāngaiNgāti Porou
Ko Hikurangi te maunga, ko Waiapu te awa, ko Ngāti Porou te iwi. In their own words, Ngāti Porou is the second largest iwi in Aotearoa, with a population of 102,480. Their deed of settlement with the Crown was signed in 2010.
Their siteMāori history and stories
Te Ara says the people of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa first met Europeans when Cook’s Endeavour anchored in Poverty Bay in late 1769. Conflict arose when the crew went ashore, and several Māori were killed or wounded.
Māori History in Gisborne
Gisborne’s Māori history, from the arrival of the waka to the iwi today.
Read the historyC Company Memorial House
The 2014 opening of the house dedicated to the men of C Company.
Read itLearning te reo Māori in Gisborne
Te reo Māori learning for adults. Check each provider for the latest dates.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Courses at the Gisborne campus include classroom te reo from Level 1 with no fees, plus online Te Ara Reo Māori courses with no fees.
Find out moreKōhanga reo
Kōhanga reo are Māori-language early learning centres. The Ministry of Education directory lists 24 in Gisborne District. Find one on the Kōhanga Reo National Trust map.
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Tōmairangi (Mangapapa)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Tōmairangi 2 (Mangapapa)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Whakaruruhau (Outer Kaiti)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Kimihia te kupu (Kaiti)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Tihi O Tītīrangi (Kaiti)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Tūraki Ao (Elgin)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Pūtake Whakatupuranga (Elgin)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Iti Noa (Te Hapara)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Waihirere (Waihirere)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Pākōwhai (Patutahi)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Rongowhakaata (Manutuke)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Manutuke (Manutuke)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Pāhou (Manutuke)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Pārekereke o te reo (Whatatutu)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o E Tipu (Tolaga Bay)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Whānau Whānui (Tolaga Bay)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Marotiri (Tokomaru Bay)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Ao Tawarirangi (Tokomaru Bay)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Waitakaro (Ruatoria)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Whānau a Hinetāpora (Ruatoria)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Waiapu (Tikitiki)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Hinerupe (Te Araroa)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Kawakawa Mai Tawhiti (Hicks Bay)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Whānau Pani ki Wharekāhika (Hicks Bay)
Kura kaupapa Māori
Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Horouta Wananga
Kura kaupapa Māori, composite school.
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hawaiki Hou
Kura kaupapa Māori, composite school.
TKKM o Nga Uri A Maui
Kura kaupapa Māori, composite school.
TKKM o Tokomaru
Kura kaupapa Māori, full primary.
TKKM o Te Waiu o Ngati Porou
Kura kaupapa Māori, composite school.
TKKM o Tapere-Nui-A-Whatonga
Kura kaupapa Māori, full primary.
TKKM o Kawakawa mai Tawhiti
Kura kaupapa Māori, composite school.
More schools teaching all students in te reo Māori
Te Kura o Māngātuna
Full primary.
Te Kura o Mata
Full primary.
Tikitiki School
Full primary.
Māori health and community services
Tūranga Health
Te Hauora a Tūranganui a Kiwa, a Māori health provider in the city.
Find out moreNgāti Porou Oranga
Health and whānau services for Ngāti Porou and the greater Gisborne city area, from pēpi to kaumātua.
Find out moreMāori Land Court
The Māori Land Court’s Tairāwhiti district office is in Gisborne.
Court officesAbout this page
Explore Gisborne is an independent local guide. This page draws on Te Ara, Te Kāhui Māngai, Rongowhakaata, Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Porou, DOC, Tairāwhiti Museum, Tairāwhiti Trails, the Ministry of Education and the operators’ own sites. Spotted something to add or correct? Let us know.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Māori name for Gisborne?
Tūranganui-a-Kiwa, often shortened to Tūranga. One tradition in Te Ara gives it as the long waiting place of Kiwa, who waited for the Horouta canoe to arrive.
What does Tairāwhiti mean?
The coast or tide of the shining sun. It is the name for the wider Gisborne region.
What iwi are in Gisborne?
Te Ara names Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri and Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti as the tribes of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa. The rohe of Ngāti Porou reaches from the East Coast to the Tūranganui River.
What is the Māori name for Young Nick’s Head?
Te Kurī a Pāoa, named for Pāoa of the Horouta canoe.
Which waka came to Gisborne?
Te Ara says the people of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa descend from voyagers on the Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru, Horouta and Tākitimu canoes.
Where did Cook land in Gisborne?
At Puhi Kai Iti / Cook Landing National Historic Reserve on Kaiti Beach Road, which also commemorates the Horouta and Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru waka.
Can you go up Hikurangi?
Maunga Hikurangi Tours run Ngāti Porou-guided 4WD trips to the summit from Ruatoria. Hikurangi is the sacred mountain of Ngāti Porou, so treat it with respect.
Is Tairāwhiti Museum free?
It is free for local residents, children 12 and under and Friends of the Museum. Adults pay $5.
What is C Company Memorial House?
A memorial to C Company of the 28th Māori Battalion, next to Tairāwhiti Museum. Entry is free.
Can you visit a marae in Gisborne?
Only by invitation or arrangement. Some guided tours include a marae visit.
Where can I learn te reo Māori in Gisborne?
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa runs courses with no fees at its Whirikoka Campus on Childers Road, and online.