HE AHI - WHAT IS IN A NAME?

Te Pae o Waimihia recently purchased 45 hectares of industrial zoned land in Taupō from Contact Energy. The site will be developed into business land lots with a focus on clean energy with low environmental impact. He Ahi will promote the use of natural geothermal energy, it was only fitting that the name of the project acknowledged the history of geothermal activity throughout the rohe of Ngāti Tūwharetoa.

Ngātoroirangi, (high priest and navigator of Te Arawa waka) stood on Mt Tauhara looking south and seeing the magnificent Mt Tongariro, he decided to climb to its summit and claim the surrounding lands for his descendants. Once there, he was overcome by fierce cold winds and freezing temperatures. Ngātoroirangi called to his sisters in Hawaiiki for help, “Send fire to warm me or I will surely die, oh Kuiwai, oh Haungaroa, I’ve been seized by the cold south winds.”

His sisters sent the fire deities, Te Pupu and Te Hoata and they travelled swiftly underground from Hawaiiki surfacing at Whakaari (White Island) and ending their journey in Tongariro. At each place where they surfaced, they left a trail of geothermal activity.

Finally, Te Pupu and Te Hoata burst out the top of Mt Tongariro, Ngātoroirangi was filled with warmth - with life spreading through his veins, muscles and bones. And so it came to be, volcanic and thermal activity came to the region and the Arawa tribes became its guardian. Ngāti Tūwharetoa the guardian for the volcanic region. He Ahi Tāmou - volcanic fire, He Ahi Tupua - geothermal resources, and how we derive our aspirations and name...

He Ahi.