Takapūneke Massacre by Te Rauparaha

This place, Takapūneke, is being transformed into a site for healing and learning, a partnership between Ōnuku Runanga and Christchurch City Council. It's going to have sculptural landscape designs telling the site's stories, walking trails through regenerated native bush, a cultural center, and space for reflection.

Takapūneke is thought to have been occupied around 1820, known for a small fishing village and its role in the thriving harakeke trade. Harakeke was collected from various sites across the peninsula and brought here to be prepared for trade. The ropes made from this flax were considered superior to the hemp ropes Pākeha sailors used then.

This was also the trading quarters of Te Maiharanui, the paramount chief of Kāi Tahu in the Canterbury region in the 1820s. In November 1830, the Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha arrived here on the brig Elizabeth. He was hidden below deck with his warriors, while Captain Stewart was supposedly here to trade for flax. When the Elizabeth anchored, Te Maiharanui was absent. Ngāti Toa stayed hidden for several days to keep up the pretense of a peaceful trading mission. When Te Maiharanui returned, he boarded the boat to trade, as was customary, and was captured along with his wife and daughter. A massacre followed in the village.

The prisoners were taken to Te Rauparaha’s stronghold on Kāpiti Island. On the journey, Te Maiharanui and his wife made the decision to kill their daughter to protect her from enslavement or forced marriage. Te Maiharanui was later taken to the mainland opposite Kāpiti Island and executed. This incident, known as the Elizabeth Affair, contributed to Britain's decision to strengthen their presence in the country, leading to the appointment of James Busby as the first British resident and the events that led to the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840.

After the massacre, Takapūneke became tapu, a site of lost lives and betrayal. Survivors moved further down the harbor to Ōnuku. The name Takapūneke can mean "to have moved from your original location," and Ōnuku means "of distance, the place over there." For generations, elders told their children to stay away from Takapūneke. For many years, the land was farmed by Pākehā families, and in the 1960s, Banks Peninsula District Council built a wastewater treatment plant directly on the site.