Kohukohu is a historic village on the Hokianga Harbour in the Northland Region of the North Island. It was one of the first European settlements in New Zealand. Kohukohu is situated on the northern shore of the harbour where it splits into two rivers, the Mangamuka River branching inland to the northeast and the Waihou River leading towards the east past Mangungu, Horeke and Rangiahua. Where the harbour divides there is a small island called Motiti which was painted by Augustus Earle, the first European artist to spend several months in New Zealand, during his visit to the Hokianga in 1827. He wrote "we were sailing up a spacious sheet of water, which became considerably wider after entering it; while majestic hills rose on each side.... looking up the river we beheld various headlands stretching into the water and gradually contracting its width, 'till they became fainter and fainter in the distance and all was lost in the azure of the horizon". Kohukohu is part of the Kohukohu-Broadwood statistical area. For demographics of this area, see Broadwood, New Zealand.
History and culture
Pre-European settlement
According to Te Tai Tokerau tradition, the legendary Polynesian explorer Kupe visited the area in 925 AD prior to his return voyage to Hawaiiki. Angry at the food from the hangi being insufficiently cooked, he cursed those responsible using the word kohu. This is the origin of the name Kohukohu. , D B Wallace Store, Laslett's Cash Store, and W L Sargeant
European settlement
The first recorded European to enter the Hokianga Harbour arrived in 1819 and by the 1830s, Kohukohu was the heart of New Zealand'stimber industry. The country's first Catholic mass was celebrated 8 kilometres north of Kohukohu at Totara Point in 1838. For nearly one hundred years Kohukohu was an important timber milling town and the largest commercial centre on the north of the harbour. In 1900, the township had a population of almost 2,000 people.
Marae
Kohukohu has three marae affiliated with Te Ihutai, a hapū of Te Rarawa: Pateoro or Te Karae Marae and Pōwhiri and Te Rarawa or Te Ihutai meeting houses; Pikiparia Marae and Ngarunu meeting house; and Tauteihiihi or Ngātokimatawhaorua Marae and Toki Mata Hourua meeting house. There are also three marae affiliated with other Te Rarawa hapū: Motuti Marae and Tamatea meeting house are affiliated with Ngāti Tamatea, Ngāti Te Maara and Te Kai Tutae. Ngāi Tupoto Marae and Ngāhuia meeting house are affiliated with Ngāi Tūpoto and Ngāti Here. Waiparera Marae and Nukutawhiti meeting house are affiliated with Patutoka, Tahāwai, Te Whānau Pani and Te Hokokeha.
New Zealand's oldest bridge
The Kohukohu footbridge near the centre of the town is the first stone bridge built in New Zealand, and is the oldest surviving bridge of any construction still in existence in the country. It was built some time between 1843 and 1851 at the mouth of the Waihouuru Creek where it flowed into the Hokianga Harbour. At the time, ships from Sydney used sandstone blocks as ballast, which they left at Kohukohu in exchange for more-valuable timber, and these sandstone blocks were used to build the bridge. When a timber mill opened next to the bridge in 1879 sawdust was used to gradually reclaim the harbour, and the reclamation has buried most of the bridge, which is now about 100 m back from the foreshore. The bridge was registered in 2008 as a Category 1 Historic Place.
Kohukohu today
Today, Kohukohu is a community of 150 people who live within the village and approximately 350 who live in the surrounding area. The smaller settlements of Tauteihiihi, Motukaraka, Pikiparia, Te Karae, Mata, and Paponga are very close by. Kohukohu has a school, general store, café, art galleries, arts and crafts shop, hotel, voluntary fire and ambulance services, and a health clinic. There are also two churches and three marae within the locality. In recent years, Kohukohu has become a destination for travellers who are attracted by its scenery, history, culture and arts. There are a number of accommodation options available locally; including backpackers, cottages, and bed & breakfast facilities.
Education
Kohukohu School is a co-educational full primary school with a roll of students as of
