Akuaku

Akuaku, also known as Aku Aku, was a settlement approximately halfway between Waipiro Bay and Whareponga in the East Coast region of New Zealand's North Island. A traditional landing point for waka taua, the town is most notable now as the former home (and possible birthplace) of Major Ropata Wahawaha, N.Z.C, as well as the ancestral home of Te Whānau-a-Rākairoa.Akuaku was once a thriving settlement — the hub of the area — with a school, church, and a marae with a wharenui called Rakeiroa. Akuaku never had a road, and when Waipiro Bay's road was built in the early 20th century, Akuaku's residents began to move. The final residents of Akuaku left around 1945, and three cemeteries are all that remain of the town today.Pre-european historyAkuaku was named by Pāoa, captain of the Horouta waka, around 1350. The name is literally translated as "scraper", or to "scrape out" or "cleanse".Ngāti Ruanuku and PākānuiAkuaku was the sight of one of the main Ngāti Ruanuku pā, where the tribe welcomed Pākānui ashore before he eventually killed many of them in a battle at Whareponga called Te Ika-Kōpara-rua (two fish in one net). After observing Ngāti Ruanuku as their guest, Pākānui and his 90 men trapped members of the tribe, including their chief, Rangi-rākai-kura, in nets while they were fishing, before killing them with their patu. This was done for Pākānui's grandmother, Materoa, who wanted the whānau's mana restored after Ngāti Ruanuku killed her father, Poroumātā, a former resident of the area.