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From issue: November 2000

A Church’s Long, Rich History

by Nick Tupara

Many strands of tradition and history come together at the Tokotoru Tapu Church at Manutuke.

Tokotoru Tapu Church is located at Manutuke Marae, in Te Turanganui-a-Kiwa (Poverty Bay). Tokotoru Tapu and places nearby are important Maori sites and are sacred to whanau, hapu and iwi.

The present Tokotoru Tapu (Holy Trinity) Church at Manutuke is the fourth church in the settlement, but only the third on its site. Photo: Dunstan and Kinge

Tokotoru Tapu has been registered as a Wahi Tapu Area. The area includes the kauri, totara, kowhai and other trees, the urupa and the church and marae.

The first Maori churches built in Aotearoa played a significant role in the establishment of Christian missions in this country and in preparing the way for the European colonial influx which followed. Tokotoru Tapu symbolises the long involvement in Manutuke and Poverty Bay of the Church of England, whose first missionaries, from the Church Mission Society, visited Poverty Bay in 1835.

Faced with the daunting task of converting Maori to Christianity, the missionaries adopted several interrelated strategies. One of these was the education and use of Maori lay-people to assist in spreading Christian ideology. Another was to translate the Bible into Maori. Later they adapted church building design to include Maori concepts like mana, wehi, ihi and wana by introducing whakairo (traditional Maori interiors).

Lookingfrom the nave towards the sanctuary of the Tokotoru Tapu Church. Photo: Dunstan and Kinge

This extended to the use of whakahuia and papahou (treasure box) shaped collection plates to align the giving of funds to the church with the keeping of taonga (prized treasures). By constructing churches in the manner of wharenui (meeting houses) and by using respected master tohunga whakairo (artists), mana and status under tikanga (tradition) was conferred on the churches.

The tradition of carved churches is stronger at Manutuke than anywhere else in New Zealand. The tradition begins in 1840 and comes forward to the Tokotoru Tapu of today. The construction of these buildings involved the great tohunga Raharuhi Rukupo. He, with other masters, Te Waaka Kurei, Te Waka Perohuka, Natanahira Toromata and Natanahira Te Keteiwi, laid the foundation for carvers of the modem era to follow. The whakairo masters who worked on St Mary's Church in Tikitiki, for example, follow on from the masters who built the churches in Manutuke.

Tokotoru Tapu is the fourth church at Manutuke in an extraordinary lineage of churches, and the third to stand on its particular site. It is part of an ongoing association between Maori culture and Christian doctrine. It stands as a physical marker to a complete chronology of this significant part of New Zealand history.

The first mission station at Manutuke was set up a short distance from Tokotoru Tapu at Kaupapa, next to the Umukapua Pa, in January 1840. A large whare was constructed of raupo (bulrush) and timber slabs. This church building was blown down on 22 November 1842, just prior to the arrival of Bishop Selwyn in Poverty Bay. Services were then moved to the Orakaiapu Marae and to a large meeting house called Hamokorau.

The second church was started in 1848, but was not opened until 19 April 1863. This church was highly decorated in the interior with "manaia" carvings after Archdeacon Williams objected to the usual ancestral carving motifs being used. Williams considered them "heathen", basing his objections on the first two commandments: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them."

Despite Williams' stand, six panels in this second church depicted human figures. They were positioned in corners of the building and demonstrate a meeting of Maori and Christian beliefs, as the figures are said to be there to protect the people in the building as well as the building itself. In this, and in many other ways, the carvers have included deeply held traditional views and ancient Maori beliefs in the church.

This church fell into a state of disrepair and in 1881 it was carefully dismantled. The third church was started in 1888, re-using timber and some of the carvings from the second church.

The third church at Manutuke in 1891, soon after it had been built. Photo: Gisborne Arts Centre and Museum

Other carvings and kowhaiwhai panels from the second church were sent to the Rev. F. Chatterton at Te Rau College for safekeeping. Some of these ended up in the National Museum collection. They have since been returned and are housed in today's Tokotoru Tapu.

In February 1910 the third church was badly damaged by fire. Its replacement, the present Tokotoru Tapu, was finished on 9 March 1913 and dedicated on 25 October 1914. Four thousand guests attended and koha of 3,234 pounds was given. Since its opening, the church has been in continuous use by the local community.

The carvings of the present church, from both Maori and the Christian points of view, carry on the ideas embodied in the carvings of the earlier churches. The carvers were Te Ngaru of Te Arawa and Te Tuhi of the Tuhoe tribe. Both trained in the Ngati Tarawhai style of carving.

The interior of the third church at Manutuke while it was being constructed, 1889. Photo: Gisborne Arts Centre and Museum

Today Tokotoru Tapu is the centre of the Turanga Pastorate and is recognised as the "Mother Church" of Te Pariha o Turanga. Manaia forms used on the interior of the church are ancient motifs in Maori culture used to enhance and reinforce the mana, ihi, wehi and wana of subjects depicted in whakairo. The manaia, said to be the messenger between the earthly world of mortals and the domain of spirits, holds great spiritual energy and is a guardian against harm. The manaia can be seen blended into many Maori designs with subtle differences between tribes. The concepts they embody would not have been apparent to the missionaries.

The carved panels in the church are large, measuring 750min wide by 100mm deep and 4,218mm long. There are thirty-five of these panels, with carved pieces running above and below them. These pieces generally measure 280mm by 100mm by 3,218mm. One section at the western end of the church runs full width, some 7,340mm.

The carved altar and kowhaiwhai panels, which date from 1881, in the sanctuary of the Tokotoru Tapu Church, Manutuke. Photo: Dunstan and Kinge

The only place in the church where there are no carved panels on the wall is in the sanctuary. Here other items are carved, such as the communion rail, the lectern and the altar. The altar has three spiral patterns on its front, these being symbols of the Trinity. The baptismal font is also carved and was originally at the rear of the church, surrounded by a carved handrail. The rail has been taken down and placed in storage while the font has been moved towards the front of the church so that the congregation does not have to turn around for baptisms. The kowhaiwhai panels, made in 1881, were returned to the church and are all housed around the altar.

At the time of writing, Nick Tupara worked for the Historic Places Trust. He would like to thank Kate Grimes for her assistance.