HISTORIC TREES IN NEW ZEALAND

Karewa of Kawhia is the tree which bloomed so red in 1350, the year of the great Maori migration to New Zealand. Karewa of Kawhia is the most venerated and largest Pohutukawa on the mainland of New Zealand. Within sight of this tree the crew of the canoe Tainui settled and became progenitors of the proud Waikato Tribal Federation. Indeed, not half a mile away from Karewa, two tall stones mark the tapu resting place of Tainui herself. This tree, the country surrounding it and the tribes which rested ‘neath its shade more than six hundred years ago, have provided a backdrop to some of the most graphic chapters of New Zealand history.