Каухия: Тарихи және мәдени орталық

Harbour and settlement in Waikato, New Zealand

The settlement of Kawhia is located on the northern coast of the inlet, and was an important port in early colonial New Zealand. The area of Kawhia comprises and is the town block that was owned by the New Zealand Government. The government bought it from the Europeans in 1880 "not from the original Māori owners, but from a European who claimed ownership in payment of money owed by another European". Kawhia is known in Māori lore as the final resting place of the ancestral waka (canoe) Tainui. Soon after arrival, captain Hoturoa made it first priority to establish a whare wananga (sacred school of learning) which was named Ahurei. Ahurei is situated at the summit of the sacred hill behind Kawhia’s seaside marae – Maketu Marae. The harbour area was the birthplace of the prominent Māori warrior chief Te Rauparaha of the Ngāti Toa tribe, who lived in the area until the 1820s, when he, and his tribe along with Ngāti Rārua and Ngāti Koata migrated southwards. Tainui was buried at the base of Ahurei by Hoturoa himself, and other members of the iwi. Hoturoa marked out the waka with two limestone pillars, which he blessed. Firstly, there is "Hani (Hani a te waewae i kimi atu) which is on the higher ground and marked the prow of the canoe". Marking the stern of the canoe, Hoturoa placed the symbol of Puna, the spirit goddess of that creation story. "In full it is named Puna whakatupu tangata, and represents female fertility, the spring or source of humanity". The eldest and most prestigious meeting house that was first built on Maketu Marae is Te Ruruhi (the Old Lady) which was used as the dining hall until 1986. It was replaced by a two storey dining hall, Te Tini O Tainui, to cater for the large numbers that visit for occasions such as annual poukai, tangi and hui. The marae is affiliated with the Ngāti Maniapoto hapū of Apakura and Hikairo, and the Waikato Tainui hapū of Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Te Weehi. Six other marae are also based at or near Kawhia Harbour:
Mōkai Kainga Marae and Ko Te Mōkai meeting house is a meeting place for the Ngāti Maniapoto hapū of Apakura and Hikairo, and the Waikato Tainui hapū of Apakura. Mokoroa Marae and Ngā Roimata meeting house is a meeting place for the Ngāti Maniapoto hapū of Ngati Kiriwai. Ōkapu or Oakapu Marae and Te Kotahitanga o Ngāti Te Weehi meeting house is a meeting place for the Waikato Tainui hapū of Ngāti Mahuta and Ngāti Te Weehi. Te Māhoe Marae is a meeting ground for the Ngāti Maniapoto hapū of Peehi, Te Kanawa, Te Urupare and Uekaha. Waipapa Marae and Ngā Tai Whakarongorua and Takuhiahia meeting houses are a meeting place for the Ngāti Maniapoto hapū of Hikairo, and the Waikato Tainui hapū of Ngāti Hikairo and Ngāti Puhiawe.

The Kawhia Harbour area was important to the kauri gum trade of the late 19th/early 20th centuries, as it was the southernmost area where the gum could be found. (later briefly part of Taranaki Central Press at Stratford) and the Mangaweka Settler. From 1909 Edward Henry Schnackenberg, whose father was a missionary here from 1858 to 1864, owned the paper, until it closed in April 1936.

Kawhia County Council was formed in 1905 and first met on 12 July 1905. New offices were built by Buchanan Bros in 1915 16 over the former beach, and designed by Hamilton architects and engineers, Warren and Blechynden. In 1923, Kawhia County covered and had a population of 1,098, with 52 mile (84 km) of gravel roads, 95 mile (153 km) of mud roads and 125 mile (201 km) of tracks. Kawhia Town Board was formed in 1906, with an area of 470 acres (190 ha). Its population in 1923 was 195, when it had 6 mi 14 ch (9.9 km) of streets and a 10 acres (4.0 ha) domain. The County merged into Ōtorohanga and Waitomo in 1956, after a Local Government Commission inquiry.

The Community Board meets monthly and consists of 4 members, plus the Kāwhia Tihiroa Ward councillor. Three members are elected from the Kawhia area and one from Aotea.

In 2016, a tall pou maumahara (remembrance pillar) was put up at Omimiti Reserve, behind the museum. Te Kuiti Stewart began carving it in 2014, from a Pureora Forest totara. It represents 150 years of Kīngitanga on one side and the Elizabeth Henrietta's 1824 arrival, on the other. At night it is floodlit, with coloured LED lights inside.

Kawhia hospital overlooked the town, on the site of Te Puru pa, which became the Armed Constabulary redoubt in 1863. Like the County Office, the hospital was also designed by Warren and Blechynden and opened in 1918. It was still a cottage hospital in 1948, but had become a maternity hospital by 1959 and closed in March 1967.

Kawhia School is a Year 1–8 co educational state primary school. It is a decile 1 school with a roll of as of