Katikati

Place Details

DescriptionKnown for its heritage, murals, avocados and kiwifruit, Katikati is located 36km northwest of Tauranga.

The rural town of Katikati was founded by settlers from Ulster in Ireland led by George Vesey Stewart, but the district was populated by Maori long before Europeans arrived. The name Katikati was given by the local Tangata Whenua to the district that stretched from what is now Bowentown down through Tahawai and what is now the Township of Katikati. The full and original name of the district was in fact Katikati o Tamatekapua - the nibbling of Tamatekapua. When the Waka Arawa stopped in the area for food, the captain, Tamatekapua, was slow in eating his food, and so the district was named Katikati : the nibbling, o Tamatekapua : of Tamatekapua.

The nearest marae is Te Rereatukahia, and its principal hapu is Ngāi Tamawhariua. The marae consists of the wharenui Tamawhariua, and Te Rereatukahia is of the Ngāi Te Rangi tribal collective. The two pou and tekoteko of the wharenui were carved from slabs of totara donated by Doug Baker to the marae over 20 years ago, and were completed in late 2010.

Tuapiro marae is located just to the north of Katikati. The primary hapū is Ngāti Te Wae of Ngāti Ranginui. The whare tipuna is named Ngā Kurī a Wharei. Tuapiro marae connects ancestrally to the Takitimu waka, the maunga Mauao and the awa Waimapu and Tuapiro.

In recent years, Katikati has called itself the ‘mural town’. Works of art in and around the main street - murals, sculptures and carvings - pay homage to the town's early Maori and pioneer residents, and its timber milling and farming heritage. There is also a tribute to the men and women who left the district to fight in overseas wars. You can pick up a mural guide map from the information centre.

Katikati is also home to a 'Haiku Pathway', boasting the largest collection of Haiku poems outside of Japan.

The local museum documents the growth of the district with photographs and displays of artefacts. GeoTag^[1]

Photographs