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Story: Bay of Plenty region

Wairaka

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Wairaka

Wairaka is also known as Te Whare o Tōroa (the house of Tōroa, captain of the Mataatua canoe). Located on the foreshore at Whakatāne, the meeting house Mataatua commemorates the canoe and Wairaka, the woman who saved it from being swept away.

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Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

by Shirley Williams

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How to cite this page

Malcolm McKinnon, Bay of Plenty region – Creative arts and heritage, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5656/wairaka (accessed 3 June 2026).

Story by Malcolm McKinnon, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 August 2016.