Come and join our community in this historic event
This year remember to mark 18 - 20 October in your calendar to acknowledge and celebrate the official Tuia 250 commemoration on the Coromandel with Te Pōwhiri, which recognises the welcome from local iwi Ngati Hei and Ngati Whanaunga to Captain Cook and his crew’s arrival 250 years ago.
Te Pōwhiri is being held at Wharekaho, Simpsons Beach, in October and celebrates the movement from conflict to resolution harking back to Cook’s first voyage, where Ngati Hei welcomed the navigator and his crew, showing them their pa on the headland at Wharekaho. Te Pōwhiri will be a wholehearted experience for all, where people can get a better understanding of the relationships that were formed between the two great voyaging traditions which brought two cultures together.
Activities planned:
Activities for Te Powhiri include the Mercury Bay Art Escape Trust's community street art festival happening from the 4 - 8 March 2019 in Whitianga. The Mercury Bay Art Escape is featuring a series of 12 murals casting Te Whanganui a Hei (Mercury Bay) reflecting the “First Encounters”.
In April, Tola, performing “Ka Tito Au; Kupe’s Heroic Journey” has been confirmed by Creative Mercury Bay to be performing twice on 5 April. This is a solo show written by Apirana Taylor and commissioned by NZ festival as part of A Waka Odyssey, the festival’s celebration of the shared Pacific voyaging past and future. You can see them on Eventfinda here.
On 5 April the solo show, written by Apirana Taylor, will be performed which is commissioned by NZ festival as part of A Waka Odyssey, the festival’s celebration of the shared Pacific voyaging past and future.
Meanwhile, in March, students and teachers from Mercury Bay Area School will participate in the
Ngati Hei Cultural Outreach programme preparing them with powhiri choreography for the major commemoration ceremony in October
Visit the News and Media page on the Mercury 250 Trust website to keep up to date on all the commemoration activities and events.
Follow the Mercury250 Trust Facebook page to keep informed about the activities leading up to October. The Facebook page is designed to keep a form of communication active so that questions can be answered and information can be released.