Leading role in establishing Marae

Continued from page 1 close family friends.

Te Ara o Ralph Olsen was one of two street names the board gave to private roads located at the subdivision at 11 The Strand.

The other name was Te Ara o Papatahi.

Mr Olsen, of Ngāti Porou, Te Aitanga a Hauiti and Norwegian descent, played a major role in establishing the Wainuiomata Marae.

Soon after arriving in the valley in 1963, the Olsen family garage became the centre of the Māori community.

Among other things, the committee organised fund raising.

Enough funds were raised by 1980 and a proposal that included a marae design and site was accepted.

After decades of fund raising and campaigning for the marae, Mr Olsen passed away in September 1980, just five months before his dream was realised.

In February 1981 a whakanoa ceremony was held to bless the site where the marae would be built, and the marae was officially opened in September 1988.

The other name was Te Ara o Tāpokopoko.

Of Muaupoko and Te Arawa descent, Ms Lomax settled in Wainuiomata in 1977.

Through her children’s sporting endeavours, Ms Lomax became well known within the Wainuiomata softball and rugby league communities.

She was among the original group of volunteers that helped establish Te Pukeatua, New Zealand’s first Kōhanga Reo, which opened in April 1982..

Te Ara o Tāpokopoko is named after two prominent peaks that separate the Wairarapa from Te Whanganui a Tara.

These peaks hold a strong significance for Taranaki whānau as an important pou whenua (geographical boundary marker) for the iwi.

The fifth street the community board named was Te Ara o T Ūrakirae for a private road located at the subdivision at 76 Antrim Crescent.

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Les Whiteside les@wsn.co.nz

021 360 008

Mr Olsen established the Wainuiomata Māori Club in 1964 and went on to play a leading role in establishing the Wainuiomata Marae, along with other members of the community.

Their vision was for a “house of people”, where people of all cultures and ethnicities could live in harmony under the guidance of tikanga Māori.

Te Ara o Papatahi is named after a prominent peak that separates the Wairarapa from Te Whanganui a Tara.

Papatahi stands high above the Ōrongorongo and Wainuiomata catchments and holds a strong significance for Taranaki whānau as an important pou whenua (geographical boundary marker) for the iwi.

Ms Lomax’s four sons helped the Wainuiomata Rugby League Club gain national status, winning the New Zealand competition twice.

All four sons represented Wellington and three played for the New Zealand Māori Rugby League team. Two of them also played for the Kiwis.

Her grandson, Tyrel Lomax, is a current All Black.

The headland at TŪrakirae Head, on the Wainuiomata coastline, is of considerable significance to local iwi as it forms the eastern boundary between Taranaki Whānui and Ngāti Kahungunu.

After decades of conflict between the two groups, peace was made in 1840 through various tatau pounamu at a formal hui held at Pito One.

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Sam Barnes sam@wsn.co.nz 021 109 4406

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Mr Olsen was Chair of the Wainuiomata Marae Committee, established in the early 1970s.

Maria Lomax Way was one of two street names the board gave to private roads located at the subdivision at 2A Gawler Grove.

Maria passed away in 2017 and her tangi, held at Kawiu Marae in Levin, was attended by nearly 500 people, including Trevor Mallard and Adrian Rurawhe, who were

A Statutory Acknowledgement registers the special association of Taranaki Whānui to TŪrakirae Head Scientific Reserve through the settlement.