Gate Pa battle to air on TV

A half-hour documentary about the Battle of Gate Pa Pukehinahina, filmed during last month's 150-year commemorations, is screening on TV One's ‘Waka Huia' programme tomorrow.

Airing at 10.30am tomorrow, the documentary will feature interviews with three local elders and show footage of last month's 150-year commemorations taking place.


Tauranga Moana Iwi Leaders' Group chairman Awanui Black features in a TV One's ‘Waka Huia' Land Wars Series documentary featuring the Battle of Gate Pa which screens tomorrow.

The final part of the ‘Waka Huia' Land Wars Series, the documentary tells the story of Gate Pa battle, with director Piata Gardiner-Hoskins from Tauranga.

Piata says with 2014 being 150 years since the Waikato Land Wars, her TVNZ Waka Huia team decided to create a series and feature Gate Pa.

'So Gate Pa is the final documentary for the ‘Land War Series'.”

The 30-minutes documentary will tell the story via interviews with Awanui Black, Hauta Palmer and Tamati Tata.

'They each tell a story of the battle – right from the reasons that some sub-tribes of Tauranga fought in the Waikato wars all the way through to the morning of the battle, what happened during the battle, and also the significance of the battle in that it changed Tauranga forever.

'It kind of makes the point that [the battle] was kind of the birth of Tauranga town really, and also we can forget Te Ranga.”


An image captured during the Battle of Gate Pa's 150-year commemoration, which is set to air on TV One's ‘Waka Huia' programme tomorrow morning.

140524 Gate Pa battle on TV 003: Director Piata Gardiner-Hoskins is from Tauranga.

Piata says her team of documentary-makers was also present on the 150-year commemoration day last month on April 29.

'So throughout the documentary some footage from the day is interwoven into the story – from the dawn ceremony right through to the powhiri and mass haka.”

Being from Tauranga, Piatra says it is quite a personal achievement for her to make the documentary 'but also a lot of pressure too”.

'I think it was only right the Tauranga person within the team should be doing that story but it was also an awesome opportunity to really delve into the history of my home and be able to portray that to not just my family but to Tauranga and that rest of the country.”


Director Piata Gardiner-Hoskins is from Tauranga.

Described as ‘A battle won, a war lost' the documentary will be told in Maori with English subtitles.

Waka Huia's ‘Land Wars Series' airs on TV One tomorrow (Sunday) at 10.30am.

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