Wairau Bar

About Wairau Bar

The Wairau Bar is located West of Blenheim, an area of approximately 10 hectares by the mouth of the Wairau River where it meets the sea. It is a significant historical and archeological site which is known as one of the first sites which Polynesian navigators arrived at and settled in Aotearoa, around the late 13th Century to early 14th Century, marking the beginning of life as tangata whenua on Aotearoa land.

Wairau Bar is a significant cultural and archeological heritage site for Māori as "The Wairau Bar was one of two sites in New Zealand where researchers had discovered evidence of remains and artefacts that could be traced back to tropical Eastern Polynesia." (Lewis, O., 2016) The close relationship between Wairau Bar and Hawaiki has great impact on Māori interpretations of Hawaiki, their homeland and place of origin, as it offers Māori evidence and guidance to understand their heritage, their whakapapa beyond the first settlements in Aotearoa.

Connections to Hawaiki

Wairau Bar is the location that is considered with the most significant connections to Hawaiki, the interpretation of a homeland in East Polynesia. There are various archeological and scientific evidence which directly supports the argument that Wairau Bar is one of the first locations in Aotearoa which saw the initial landing of Polynesian navigators and the early life of tangata whenua in the country.

Hayes, S., Mackrell, T. (2012) Artistic depiction of Aunty

This is an artistic depiction of Aunty, who was one of the first navigators which set foot on Wairau Bar with the arrival of the first Waka in Aotearoa, as agreed by many credible sources. This image of Aunty was recreated using muscular reconstruction on the approximately 700-year-old skull of Aunty found in Burial 1 of the Wairau Bar, with the help of an Australian forensic scientist. Aunty is a significant figure which is the Polynesian ancestor of many members Rangitāne o Wairau. University of Otago professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith collected numerous DNA tests to compare the geneology of Rangitāne o Wairau, the local iwi of the Wairau region, and the remains of tūpuna found in the Wairau Bar burials. The results reveals that several members of Rangitāne could trace their lineage back to Aunty. Her presence at the Wairau Bar is significant as she is a direct ancestral connection between Hawaiki and Wairau Bar and tangata whenua, proving the significant role of the Wairau Bar as the location in Aotearoa with great tangible links with Hawaiki.

Keelan Walker (Rangitāne o Wairau) has extensive knowledge on the local history of Wairau, and he commented on the accuracy of this scientific method of facial reconstruction based on skulls. "What [scientists] able to do today is that these forensic scientists can take skulls of people who have recently died and are able to reconstruct what they think what they think they look like, give it to people compare it to a photo, and there's no difference." And to testify for the effectiveness of this method, Rangitāne spokesman Richard Bradley said that the depiction of Aunty looks "just like the first Macdonald's wife." Their input both supports the idea that this photo of Aunty is fairly accurate, and therefore have great historical significance for Māori, specifically Rangitāne and historians alike in their aspirations to retrace Māori heritage beyond life in Aotearoa. It is also scientifically significant as it shows how modern developments in archeology and genetics research can assist historians and indigenous people in culturally impactful research to define their ancestral origins.

Shell NZ (1976) Artist's depiction of Burial 1, the first Moa-hunter burial discovered at Wairau Bar by Jim Eyles in 1939. Retireved from Eyles, J. (2007) Wairau Bar Moa Hunter: The Jim Eyles story.

The artistic depiction of how Aunty was found in Burial 1 is a useful source as it shows the resemblance of burial traditions from the ancestor's homeland in East Polynesia: "At Wairau Bar, the dead were buried with precious things in small cemeteries around the fringes of the villiage. They were buried face downwards, an Early Polynesian tradition, with fine tools, impressive necklaces and a moa egg with a drilled hole at one end." (Marlborough Museum, N.D). This is significant as it is a cultural and traditional connection between Wairau Bar traditions to that of their ancestors in East Polynesia, therefore strengthening the theory that the early Polynesian settlers at Wairau Bar are closely connected, or even direct descendants of Polynesians from Hawaiki in East Polynesia.

This source provides an educated view on how the traditions of Māori ancestors from Hawaiki were continued in Wairau Bar. However, this interpretation was based on the observation of how the burial was found years after it was established, therefore the visualisation is likely to contain inaccuracies.

Dang, N (2023, March 2). Photo of an artistic depiction of necklace retrieved from Burial 1, remade by a local artist. [Photo]. Blenheim, New Zealand.

Eyles, J. (1942). Photo of a spooled whale tooth neck ornament found by Jim Eyles at Burial 2, 1942. Retrieved from Elyes, J. (2007) Wairau Bar Moa Hunter: The Jim Eyles Story.

This is a recreated version of a necklace found in Burial 1 at Wairau Bar, the burial of Aunty. According to Keelan Walker, the necklace is made of serpentine, a resource that was seeked by Māori in their early arrival in Aotearoa. It is also a faily common art design of tangata whenua early in their settlement period in Aotearoa. This is proven by the similarities of the serpentine necklace to this spooled whale tooth neck ornament from Burial 2 (1942). Though this serpentine necklace is only a recreation, it is a significant artefact that not only represented the traditions of early settlers in Aotearoa which were carried from the Pacific Islands, it is also a tāonga that belongs to one of the pioneering tupuna who arrived and settled at the Wairau Bar, proving the historical significance of the Wairau Bar in Māori heritage as a wahi tapu where their late ancestors and their tāonga lies.

Te Papa (n.d.) Front, side and back views of the Tereba shell tool found at Wairau Bar. [Photo].

Pictured above is a shell tool discovered at the Wairau Bar, which has been tested and confirmed to be made from a shell foreign to New Zealand. According to archeologist Richard Walters, the tool is made from Tereba shell, a tropical Polynesian shell, find in many archeological sites, specifically in the Cook Islands and French Polynesia in the 1300s and 1400s. The research report Connections with Hawaiki: the Evidence of a Shell Tool from Wairau Bar, Marlborough, New Zealand also mentions that there are various Tereba shell tools with similar characteristics found in tropical East Polynesia. The research concludes that this tool has significant link to some of the first generations of migrants arriving in Aotearoa: "It is reasonable, therefore, to deduce that the Wairau tool was brought to the site, if not by an actual migrant from tropical East Polynesia, by a close descendant of such a person."

The lack of historical context to this tool means that the significance of the tool for early Polynesian migrants in Aotearoa cannot be concluded. But the shell have huge historical and archeological significance because it is a tangible, physical artefact that suggests that there are direct ancestral link between the East Polynesian migrants and the first generations of tangata whenua living in Wairau Bar. This further support the significance of Wairau Bar for Māori, in its great heritage bond to the Hawaiki in East Polynesia.

Further scientific evidence

Academic journal Mass Migration and the Polynesian Settlement of New Zealand offers deep scientific insight into Polynesian navigators' migration process and their early settlement in Wairau Bay. The journal mentions an analysis of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen, and strontium in tooth enamel of bones that were found at burials at Wairau Bar. This research reveals that "Group 1 individuals all shared a geologically similar origin and a similar diet, with less diversity of protein sources," and that Group 2 "displayed a dietary pattern that suggested the exploitation of a wide range of protein sources." The results indicates that some individuals in Group 1 of this research may have spent some of their early years in the general Hawaiki region in East Polynesia, before travelling to New Zealand. Keelan Walker also mentioned a research using DNA samples from Aunty's tooth enamel to trace for strontium, an element largely found in New Zealand water sources originating from the Southern Alps. The results found no traces of strontium from Aunty's DNA sample, which may suggest that Aunty have spent a considerable time of her life in the Pacific Islands, where there are little to no strontium. These are significant scientific evidence which suggests that Wairau Bar have been occupied by both early tangata whenua and first generation migrants from East Polynesia, once again proving the significance of Wairau as one of the earliest location occupied by Māori ancestors from East Polynesia, and its close heritage connection with Hawaiki.

Why Wairau?

As mentioned in The journey to Aotearoa, it is generally unclear why Polynesian navigators decided to leave their homeland in East Polynesia to migrate to Aotearoa. But looking at the environment and ecological characteristics at Wairau Bar and the surrounding region, it is clear why first generation migrants decided to settle at Wairau Bar for the long term.

The first map shows the overall environmental characteristics of Aotearoa in relation to key resources and coastal communication networks. It shows that Wairau is situated in a horicultural and terrestrial hunting zone, which meant that food resources such as kumara crops and moa were plenty, and the land was utilised by early settlers for kai. It is also coastal, with crucial access to coastal travelling around New Zealand. This path of transport is crucial for early settlers for communication (Anderson, 2015) to retrieve important natural resources such as argillite for tools like adzes, as well as kai moana. All of this shows that Wairau Bar is an extremely advantageous location for long-term settlement Aotearoa. With the security in food, resources and accessibility, it was evident that settlers found the Wairau Bar suitable for long-term settlement in Aotearoa.

The second map represents the different types of stones which were identified through artefacts at the Wairau Bar, and the sources of the materials in Aotearoa. The map shows eight different stone types found at Wairau Bar, and that the sources of these stones are spread out throughout both the North and South Island of New Zealand, nearby and far away from Wairau. This map is a helpful indication of how well the founding settlements at Wairau Bar have utilised the resources available for them from Wairau, and how they have adapted to life in Aotearoa. It once again proves the natural abundance of Aotearoa, specifically the region around Wairau Bar, and how this may influenced their decision to settle at Wairau Bar long-term.

Fry, S. (2023, March 2). Photo of an aerial map of Wairau Region. [Map]. Marlborough Museum, Blenheim, New Zealand.

This map from Marlborough Museum illustrates the river and streams network of the Wairau region. Through this map, it is visible that there are substantial fresh water sources such as rivers, streams, creeks and lagoons which is essential for drinking water, but also can be used for locations to get kai moana such as tuna. With easy access to both fresh water sources and the ocean, it is clear that the Wairau Bar is an ideal site for a long-term settlement for Polynesian navigators arriving at Aotearoa at the time.

Dann, G. (2023, March 2). Landscape photo of the local heritage site by 17 Valley Winery. [Photo]. Blenheim, New Zealand.

One of the examples of how the early settlement of Wairau Bar have successfully adapted and took advantage of the natrual characteristics of the region is evident on the hills nearby the Wairau Bar. This is a view of the hills surrounding the area of 17 Valley Winery. On the hills, there are even straight marks, which according to Keelan Walker, was the marks of former kumara crops for the whole settlement. They produced a large amount of kumara which required them to build puka puka - a safe storage space for kumara, which is present at the local heritage site nearby 17 Valley Winery. This shows the abundance of food resources that the first generation settlers of Wairau Bar were able to collect, which proves the ideal natural characteristics that was key to the development of Wairau Bar settlement.

Is Wairau Bar the Hawaiki of Māori in Aotearoa?

Interpretations of Hawaiki in Māoridom greatly varies between individuals and communities, therefore it is inconclusive to define Wairau Bar as a definite Hawaiki of all Māori in Aotearoa. What is true, and proven through tangible archeological and reliable scientific evidence, is that Wairau Bar is a significant historical site for Māori, a wahi tapu where their first ancestors in Aotearoa lies. It is one of the first and most successful early settlements in Aotearoa, which made Wairau Bar a central place in Aotearoa (Walters, 2016) which "served as a local reference point and symbolic connection to the tropical homeland" with the absence of direct connections to the ancestral homeland in East Polynesia. The close connection between Wairau Bar and Māori physical Hawaiki in East Polynesia, and the role that Wairau Bar had in early Māori ideologies defined the life tangata whenua would continue to have here.

Jones, K. (n.d.) Wairau Bar: Archeological Site. [Photo]. Retrieved from Te Ara (2016, November 1). Story: Marlborough region.

Page updated

Report abuse