Orakei Marae

The marae is a focal point for the development and maintenance of cultural heritage and language.

The marae represents the physical, spiritual and symbolic centre for the conduct of tribal affairs.

The whare tupuna (ancestral house) is Tumutumwhenua, named after Ngati Whatua’s earliest ancestor.

The turbulent experiences of the past in relation to the marae have impacted severely on Ngati Whatua o Orakei.

In brief -- for two centuries -- before 1951 the hapu had its papakainga in Okahu Bay surrounding the whare tupuna – Te Puru o Tamaki.

However, as a result of government policy, Ngati Whatua o Orakei were evicted from the papakainga with their homes and the marae burnt to the ground.

They were relocated to state homes in Kitemoana St, the hill above Okahu Bay.

For the next 40 years, Ngati Whatua o Orakei would not have a marae of their own.

In 1959, the Crown set aside land near the state homes for a marae, not for Ngati Whatua o Orakei, but for ‘the use and benefit of all Maori’.

In 1991  the marae was returned to Ngati Whatua o Orakei as part of the Crown response to the 1987 Waitangi Tribunal recommendations.

The Orakei Act 1991 was passed, returning the marae, papakainga lands and the church and urupa to Ngati Whatua o Orakei.

Today, Ngati Whatua o Orakei has control and ownership of the marae and consequently continues to resurrect, reactivate and articulate the customs, language and cultural heritage particular to the hapu.

The marae is the only ancestral marae on the central Tamaki isthmus and continues to exercise the customary obligations to host and welcome national and international visitors to Tamaki Makaurau.