16/01/2026
THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN WELLINGTON
One of the big public debates in the last couple of years has been about where we are going with our bi-cultural partnership. Born in the first year of WW2, much of my self-understanding was nurtured by schoolboy history lessons about the Battle of Waterloo rather than the much more notable Battle of Gate Pa.
I guess that was because back then, we weren’t willing to face our own history, which we know today was an inglorious tale of subjugation and exploitation of the Tangata Whenua. We are still working out ways to make good the bicultural relationship under our foundation document, te Tiriti o Waitangi, and though it has taken me personally a while to get there, because my earlier perspective was rooted in last century’s monocultural attitudes , I believe that today the historical momentum is forward, not back to that shameful past
Our knowledge of our own history among older adults today is still rather sketchy If you were asked a simple question about NZ history, such as “Where did the first organized group of European settlers to come to Aotearoa, NZ, make landing, you might reply Auckland, or Christchurch, Nelson or New Plymouth, the Bay of Islands or Dunedin.
Actually it was Petone (Pito-One) Beach. The date was January 22nd 1840, and it is the reason we celebrate Wellington Anniversary Day 2026 on Monday 19th of January, exactly 186 years ago.
We celebrated 150 years on the same date in January 1990 with a crowd of 50,000 at the same place. (PIC) These days though, we tend to shrink from much hoop-dee-doo . Through the insights of eminent historians like Dame Anne Salmon and Professor Paul Moon, through the Treaty Settlement process and through the revival of te Reo, most of my fellow Pakeha seem ready to own our past shortcomings and work with our Treaty partners to right the wrongs.
The opening notes of bicultural interaction back in January 1840 were in complete harmony. When the first settlers hit the beach in Petone, te Atiawa people came from their pa at Horokiwii and offered the newcomers the hand of friendship food, shelter and hospitality. A leader among them was Chief te Wharepouri, who signed te Tiriti, and who saw opportunities for trade and protection from his enemies. On his deathbed, Wharepouri offered an Ohaki, a prayer for unity between Maori and Pakeha which has been a touchstone for te Atiawa people to this day. They included the whanau of Chief Manihera Matangi, whose father signed te Tiriti. Manihera was a staunch Christian and true friend of the early settlers who, with a number of his descendants, is buried in the churchyard. His family still lives in the Hutt Valley.
That unity was reflected in the early records of the Christ Church built in Taita by the first settlers. It’s a place where Maori and Pakeha regularly worshipped together. It’s the oldest Church in the region, and its best kept secret.
The massive expansion of state housing in the Hutt Valley in Taita and Naenae after WW2 led to the center of population shifting and the little church becoming isolated from its community. Its continuing presence among us has gradually been obscured – until now. A Visitor Centre is being built next to the Church at 73 Eastern Hutt Road, and there, the rich and extensive history it represents is being displayed.
