Flowing southward, Tautauroa Creek feeds into the larger Pukaki Creek. Tautauroa Creek is a vital part of Auckland’s waterways. The creek joins Waokauri Creek and Otaimako Creek. These creeks all flow into Pukaki Creek.
Let’s talk about Pukaki Creek for a moment since Tautauroa Creek is one of its tributaries. Pukaki Creek is an estuarine river. It flows into the Manukau Harbour. You can find it near Auckland Airport and Pūkaki Marae.
Centuries ago, Māori peoples settled along the Māngere-Ihumātao-Pūkaki coastline. They arrived around 1450 and established settlements in the 15th century. Pukaki Creek became an important part of the Waokauri / Pūkaki portage. This portage connected the Manukau Harbour and Tāmaki River via Papatoetoe. Māori used it to avoid other portages controlled by rival groups. They were avoiding the Te Tō Waka and Karetu portages.
This creek formed part of Ngā Tapuwae a Mataoho. This name means “The Sacred Footprints of Mataoho.” Mataoho was the volcano God. He was believed to have created Auckland’s volcanic field.
During the Waiohua confederation era in the 17th and 18th centuries, the land around here was farmed. After Waiohua chief Kiwi Tamaki’s defeat around 1740, many Waiohua people left. When they returned, most settled around the Manukau Harbour and South Auckland. Those near Pukaki Creek became known as Te Ākitai Waiohua.
In the 1850s, Lieutenant-Colonel Marmaduke Nixon lived on Pukaki Creek’s western shores. Te Ākitai Waiohua lived on the eastern side. Before the Invasion of the Waikato in 1863, the local Māori were forced to leave or pledge loyalty to the government. Nixon arrested Āhaka Takaanini, a Te Ākitai Waiohua leader. Takaanini later died on Rākino Island.
After the war, much of the land near Pukaki Creek was sold to British farmers. Te Ākitai Waiohua started returning in 1866. They settled west of Pukaki Creek and at Ihumātao. In the 1890s, they built a marae used until the 1950s. Auckland International Airport was built on that land later.
In the 1950s, Chinese New Zealand gardeners Fay Gock and Joe Gock cultivated kūmara. They received plants from their neighbors at Pūkaki Marae. The Gocks developed a disease-resistant kūmara variety. This became the modern Owairaka Red variety.
In 1993, Pukaki Creek became a Māori reservation. This was under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. Te Ākitai Waiohua’s main marae, Pūkaki Marae, opened in 2004. It stands near Pukaki Creek.
So, as you stand here by Tautauroa Creek, remember its layers of history. Think of the ancient portage route. Consider the stories of the people who have lived by these waters. This creek is more than just a stream. It is a link to Auckland’s rich past.