Takapà «neke, with the location also known as Red House Bay, is a former kÃÂingaâÂÂan unfortified MÃÂori villageâÂÂadjacent to present-day Akaroa, New Zealand. Takapà «neke was a major trading post for the local iwi (tribe), NgÃÂi Tahu, as there was safe anchorage for European vessels. The site is of significance to NgÃÂi Tahu as their tribal chief, Tama-i-hara-nui, was captured here by North Island NgÃÂti Toa chief Te Rauparaha, and then tortured and killed. The village itself was raided and subject of a massacre, with the events subsequently called the Elizabeth affair. There is a direct link from the massacre in 1830 to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, giving the site a status of national significance.
That significance has not always been widely known, and part of the site has been used as a landfill, with any artifacts of the core of the kÃÂinga destroyed in 1960 through the construction of a sewage treatment plant. The site was declared sacred to MÃÂori in 2002 by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. Authorities have been working towards protecting the site and in 2018, Christchurch City Council adopted a management plan and subsequently made a formal request to the Minister of Conservation to apply for national reserve status. The sewage treatment plant is about to be relocated away from this site.
The meaning of the MÃÂori word Takapà «neke is "a bay to drag in a fishing net". It was often used as the base by Tama-i-hara-nui, at the time the paramount chief of NgÃÂi Tahu. A large area of land surrounding the settlement was cultivated. The kÃÂinga was a base for trade with Europeans as this was easily done in this location. Much of the trade was in food, timber and flax fibre (harakeke); the latter was collected from the area around Akaroa Harbour. NgÃÂi Tahu had got into conflict with NgÃÂti Toa in 1828 and an unequal war was being fought as NgÃÂti Toa had firearms but NgÃÂi Tahu had very few. Eight of Te Rauparaha's chiefs were killed after they had entered Kaiapoi Pàunder the pretence of trade. Te Rauparaha, who had remained outside Kaiapoi PÃÂ, returned to his base on Kapiti Island.
Two years later, in November 1830, Te Rauparaha returned on the brig Elizabeth under Captain John Stewart; the captain had been promised a cargo of flax in return for transporting a 100-strong NgÃÂti Toa war party. They anchored off Takapà «neke and when Tama-i-hara-nui returned from collecting flax on 6 November, Captain Stewart enticed him and his family to come on board to trade flax for guns. Once on board, the concealed NgÃÂti Toa overwhelmed Tama-i-hara-nui, his wife and his daughter. That night, they then raided Takapà «neke and either killed or enslaved those who were present. Different sources give different numbers for the casualties; a 2010 press release by Christchurch City Council states that 150 people were killed (which is a lower number than most other sources give). On Kapiti Island, Tama-i-hara-nui was handed to some of the wives of the eight chiefs killed at Kaiapoi PÃÂ, who tortured him to death.
The attack led to Takapà «neke being abandoned. The survivors either went to the pà(a fortified MÃÂori village) on à Ânawe Peninsula or to the nearby à Ânuku. The next user of the land was William Barnard Rhodes, who in 1839 built himself a house which he painted bright red; this gave the locality its European name of Red House Bay.
Captain Stewart was charged with murder and appeared before a Sydney court in May 1831 but was discharged without conviction over a variety of legal questions. In May 1832, the Colonial Office overruled the Sydney Crown Solicitor and provided legal arguments by which Captain Stewart could be tried, but the captain had left Sydney in October 1831 and had apparently died on the journey near Cape Horn.
The massacre at Takapà «neke resulted in the Governor of New South Wales, Ralph Darling, appointing James Busby as the inaugural British Resident in New Zealand. There is a chain of events that eventually led to the 1840 signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. Christchurch City Council's management plan for Takapà «neke Reserve states:
Council records show that a sewage treatment plant was constructed at Takapà «neke in 1960. In 1964, Akaroa County bought land from the western corner of Takapà «neke Reserve where this plant had been built. The plant occupies the area that was the core of the kÃÂinga. When it was built, many of the middens from Takapà «neke were dug up. The council acknowledges that the construction of the plant in this location "was an act of particular cultural insensitivity". A landfill was located in one corner of the reserve; the landfill was capped in 1999. In 1992, a residential development was discussed for the land. After the à Ânuku rà «nanga (a tribal council) raised concerns in 1995 about inappropriate uses of the reserve, an agreement was signed between the rà «nanga and Banks Peninsula District in 1998.
On 30 May 2002, the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand) declared Takapà «neke a Wahi Tapu Area, a place or site sacred to MÃÂori; the list number of the site is 7521. Shortly before amalgamation with Christchurch City Council in March 2006, the Banks Peninsula District Council resolved to apply for National Reserve status, for which it is necessary to develop a management plan. In 2009, the Minister of Conservation, Tim Groser, changed the classification for the three land parcels that form Takapà «neke Reserve to Historic Reserve to reflect the location's significance to NgÃÂi Tahu. Christchurch City Council adopted a management plan on 7 June 2018. The city council subsequently asked the Minister of Conservation to declare Takapà «neke Reserve a national reserve.
Takapà «neke is approximately south-west of the centre of Akaroa. There are three land parcels that form the historic area, with Britomart Historic Reserve itself not proposed to be included:
There is one building on the reserve, the Immigration Barracks relocated to here in 1898, and it is proposed to be kept. The reserve surrounds a privately held section where the red house used to stand and the city council has had a longstanding desire to buy this property if it came up for sale. The property was purchased in December 2020 for twice its ratable value. The capped landfill, which provides a level site, is proposed to be turned into a car park for visitors.
In 2015, Christchurch City Council obtained consent for a new wastewater treatment plant just north of Akaroa (Takapà «neke is south of Akaroa). The discharge consent for the existing plant expires in October 2020 and the proposed plant does not have a discharge consent yet. Further consultation on options was to start in "early 2020" but as of May 2020, this is yet to happen.