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Story: Hawaiki

Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki, 1945

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Rangiātea Church, Ōtaki, 1945

Rangiātea Church in Ōtaki is one of several places in New Zealand named after a part of Hawaiki. The Anglican church was built by people of the Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa and Te Āti Awa tribes and opened in 1851. Sacred soil from the altar of Rai’atea (Rangiātea) in Hawaiki, brought to New Zealand on the Tainui canoe centuries before, was buried under the altar of the church. Rangiātea Church was destroyed by fire in 1995 but has since been rebuilt.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/4-001618; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, Hawaiki – Location and associations, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/3820/rangiatea-church-otaki-1945 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 April 2015.