Moioio Island
Last Modified: 19-7-2020 22:46
By: Christopher Cookson
© Christopher Cookson License this image
Moioio Island is the only island in Kura te au / Tory Channel near Kaihinu Point in the Marlborough Sounds. The island is approximately 120m long by 50m wide, and is a wāhi tapu site sacred to Te Atiawa. The island is rocky covered in a variety of mostly native vegetation. The island was included as part of a Treaty of Waitangi Settlement with Te Tau Ihu tribes in 2014, recognising its cultural significance to Te Atiawa.
Oral tradition records that Ngāti Kurī occupied the island when they migrated from the North Island, however conflict between Ngāti Kurī and Ngāi Tara led to Ngāti Kurī abandoning the island and by the 19th Century the island was the home to Huriwhenua, chief of the Ngāti Rahiri hapū of Te Atiawa. Archaelogical evidence of occupation and use as a pa site is provided by presence of a midden with fragments of worked argillite, shells, and bones of various animal species.
Area: 0.8 hectares
Status: Scenic Reserve
Public Access: No
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Cite this page
Cookson, C. (2020). Moioio Island. Retrieved April, 24, 2024, from https://www.marlboroughonline.co.nz/marlborough/information/geography/coastal-areas/moioio-island/