A Visit Through the PAst

A Visit Through the PĀst
with Ken Horner

Puketarata Garden lies inside an outer rampart of the historic Puketarata pā site, one of a number in the valley region. Around the 15th or 16th centuries, the age of pā building began, and for four or five hundred years Puketarata was home to Māori who lived and gardened at the pā site or its adjacent kainga (village) Keteonetea.

Historic events had a destructive effect on Taranaki and on Puketarata/Keteonetea. In the 1820s the musket wars began followed by the subsequent arrival of Pākehā in increasing numbers from 1840, by the 1860s the land wars had commenced. The area was officially confiscated in 1865 by the government along with other Māori land in the area.

Although there is very little specific history known of this time, Ken Horner, amateur historian and owner of Puketarata Garden, has pieced together the history of the land that has been his family’s home since 1983. Take part in a walk along the earthen structure that is all that remains of the historic pā site and join in the conversation with the Ken about Puketarata’s place in history.