Land history was a major proponent of the development of urban marae The land where the marae stands was part of the
rohe of the
Waiohua confederacy of
Tāmaki Māori until the 1740s, subsequently settled by
Ngāti Whātua until 1840. In the 1820s and early 1830s, the threat of
Ngāpuhi raiders from the north during the
Musket Wars caused most of the
Tāmaki Makaurau area to become deserted. During this period, a peace accord between Ngāpuhi and
Waikato Tainui was reached through the marriage of Matire Toha, daughter of Ngāpuhi chief Rewa, to Kati Takiwaru, the younger brother of Tainui chief
Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (later the first
Māori King), and they settled together near
Māngere Mountain. In the late 1840s, Governor
George Grey asked Pōtatau Te Wherowhero to settle with his people in the Māngere Bridge area to defend the township of Auckland. Pōtatau Te Wherowhero and members of
Ngāti Mahuta (a
hapū of Waikato Tainui) settled near to the land where his brother Kati Takiwaru lived, an area of 480 acres around the base of
Māngere Mountain. Most of the inhabitants left in the 1860s prior to the
Invasion of the Waikato, when Governor Grey required that all Māori living in the South Auckland area needed to swear loyalty to the Queen, due to the government's fears of the
Māori King Movement. By the early 20th Century, this land had become farmland for the Rewha family. In addition to the farmland, Lot 5A included a sandy beach and a natural source of spring water, where people would wash clothes. In 1933, a petition to the government was made to set aside one acre of land for a wharenui and marae, By the 1940s, the local community began to prefer building a marae at
Onehunga to the north.
Opening and surrounding land development In 1963, the Māngere and Onehunga communities were greatly affected by the
Brynderwyn bus accident, as a large number of people in the accident were from the area. In the aftermath, the Onehunga community struggled to accommodate the
tangihanga they needed to host for the community members. Prime Minister
Keith Holyoake and opposition leader
Walter Nash, who both attended the tangi in Onehunga, noticed the lack of space and resources that the community was facing, and agreed for the government to co-finance a marae after witnessing the difficulties. The marae was officially opened by
Governor-General Bernard Fergusson in November 1965. The marae was named after Te Puea Hērangi, to acknowledge her contributions to the people of Aotearoa. In the 1970s and early 1980s, construction began on the
Southwestern Motorway in
Māngere Bridge, directly adjacent to the marae. While previously on the edge of the
Māngere Inlet, land reclamations projects isolated the marae from the Manukau Harbour, The motorway cut easy pedestrian access between the marae and the Māngere Bridge village community, disconnecting the marae from the local community.
Community centre and events After opening, the marae began to be used for community events such as
pōwhiri,
tangihanga, unveilings and weddings. In the 1970s, the marae became a venue used by members of the
Māori protest movement, including
Ngā Tamatoa and groups protesting the
1981 Springbok tour. and Kuia Nanny Tuura based at Te Puea during the 1985
Bastion Point marches. In the 1990s, the marae was used as a broadcasting location for
Radio Tainui. In 2005, the Raukura Hauora o Tainui charitable trust opened a medical centre on the marae.
Centre for homelessness In May 2016, an emergency meeting was called by the board, addressing the growing problem of
homelessness. The board agreed to provide temporary housing and resources for homeless people in Auckland, establishing the Manaaki Tāngata programme, and by the end of the week 60 people had moved to the marae. initially housing people in temporary offices. The first year of the Manaaki Tāngata programme ended in September 2016, after 181 people were helped by the marae. Because of the emergency housing initiative, Hurimoana Dennis, chairman of Te Puea Memorial Marae, was nominated at the
New Zealander of the Year Awards. In the
2022 Queen's Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours, Dennis was appointed a
Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori and the community. In July 2017, the Manaaki Tāngata was revived for the next six months, and in the same year opened Piki te Ora, a multipurpose facility to combat homelessness. In the first three months of the
COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, 480 families had been helped by the marae. As a part of the
Tāmaki Herenga Waka Stories of Auckland (2021) exhibit at the
Auckland War Memorial Museum, a temporary housing room at Te Puea Memorial Marae was recreated, including a
basket of necessities provided to new arrivals to the marae. == References ==