Port Levy facts for kids
Port Levy (which is called Māori: Koukourarata in Māori) is a long, calm bay. It is also a small settlement. You can find it on the Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, New Zealand. Today, fewer than 100 people live there. But in the mid-1800s, it was the biggest Māori village in Canterbury. About 400 people lived there back then. The bay got its name from Solomon Levey. He was a merchant and ship owner from Australia. He sent many trading ships to the Banks Peninsula in the 1820s.
The Ngai Tūāhuriri people, a group of the Ngāi Tahu tribe, settled in this bay. Their chief, Moki, named the bay "Koukourarata". This name came from a stream in Wellington. It reminds people of when his father, Tu Ahuriri, was born. Port Levy was also home to Tautahi. He was a chief whom the swampy area of Ōtautahi was named after. This area is now where the city of Christchurch is located.
Koukourarata marae is a special tribal meeting place. It belongs to the Ngāi Tahu tribe and its local branch, Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata. It includes the Tūtehuarewa wharenui (meeting house). The three main family groups (called hapū) of Koukourarata are Ngāi Tūhaitara, Ngāi Tūtehuarewa, and Ngāti Huikai.
History of the Church in Port Levy
The very first Anglican church in Canterbury was built at Port Levy. This happened sometime in the 1840s. A stone memorial marks the exact spot where it stood. The memorial says: "Te Turanga o te whare karakia tuatahi o te hahi mihinare o Waitaha." This means: "On this site stood the first Anglican church in what was to become Canterbury." The current St Paul's Anglican church was built later, in 1888.
