East Auckland

 ( Geography Of Auckland ) 

Ngāi Tai centred life in the area between the Tāmaki and Wairoa rivers, settling in an annual cycle of encampments based on what resources were seasonally available. Traditional resources included fish, shellfish, snared birds and processed karaka berries. The coasts were widely cultivated, where crops such as kūmara, taro, Calabash and Dioscorea alata were grown. Volcanic soils, especially those found at Ōtara Hill and the Pakuranga Creek, were home to the most extensive stonefield gardens, most of which have since been destroyed. Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain was an important pā site for Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, named after ancestress Huiārangi, daughter of Tāmaki of Te Tini ō Maruiwi. Pā sites were constricted to the east: Paparoa at Waipaparoa / Howick Beach and Tūwakamana at Cockle Bay, to protect the exposed cultivations of the area. In the 1600s, the warrior Kāwharu attacked and raised Paparoa Pā, without taking occupation of the lands. While the wider area was still cultivated, the site of Paparoa Pā became a wāhi tapu (sacred and restricted) site to Ngāi Tai.

From the 1600s, Ngāi Tai intermarried with Ngāti Tamaterā. Not long after this time, members of Ngāitai from the Bay of Plenty who had shared ancestry with Ngāi Tai migrated to the region. Their arrival was celebrated, and the lands near Umupuia became a shared gift for Ngāitai and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki peoples. Te Wana, a child of this union, became a well-known warrior, who united the peoples of Ngāi Tai. In the 1700s, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki forged unions between other Tāmaki Māori iwi, such as Te Uri o Pou, Waiohua, and Marutūāhu, which caused division between members of Ngāi Tai.

In the early-mid 18th century, Ngāriki, a rangatira of Ngāi Tai, built a fortified pā at Te Naupata (Musick Point), the headland at the end of the peninsula, called Te Waiārohia (a shortening of Te Waiārohia ō Ngāriki), which grew to become one of the largest centres of Ngāi Tai life. From the 1790s, Te Rangitāwhia was the paramount chief of Ngāi Tai, whose principal residences were at Waiārohia and to the south at Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain. After the village was attacked by Kapetaua of the related iwi Te Patukirikiri, Ngāi Tai built a smaller pā on the mountain. By the mid-18th century, Ngāti Pāoa, a Marutūāhu tribe with close relationships to Ngāi Tai, established themselves on the western shores of the river at Panmure, at Mokoia pā and the Mauināina kāinga. By the time missionaries Samuel Marsden and John Gare Butler visited the isthmus in 1820, there were thousands of inhabitants living along the shores of the Tāmaki River.

The first regular contact Māori of East Auckland had with Europeans was with whalers, who visited the area from the 1780s. The visits led to outbreaks of rewharewha, a respiratory disease, which decimated many Ngāi Tai settlements.

During the Musket Wars in the 1820s, the settlements of Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāi Tai were sacked by a Ngāpuhi taua (war party). The wider area was evacuated by Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāi Tai, with most members of Ngāi Tai fleeing to the Waikato for temporary refuge during this time. When English missionary William Thomas Fairburn visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied. The settlements of Mokoia, Mauināina and Te Waiārohia became tapu for Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāi Tai due to the large number of deaths, and were not resettled.

In 1836, English Missionary William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between Tāmaki Māori chiefs, Pōtatau Te Wherowhero and Turia of Ngāti Te Rau, covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland, East Auckland and the Pōhutukawa Coast. The sale was envisioned by the church and the chiefs as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. Māori continued to live in the area, unchanged by this sale. Fairburn's Purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission found to be excessive and reduced in size. Most of the disallowed parts of his purchase were not returned to Ngāi Tai, instead were kept by the Government to sell to settlers.

Howick was established in 1847 as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families. The decision to establish on site was controversial. It was allegedly chosen to protect Auckland against potential invasion from Marutūāhu tribes to the east, but the site was too far inland to serve this purpose. As the Crown owned the entirety of the land at Howick, the Government could directly profit from the land sales to fencible settlers. The fencibles arrived between 1847 and 1852. Early settlers struggled to establish themselves on the land. Almost no trees were found in the district that could be used for construction, and the soil was primarily clay, compared to other fencible settlements such as Ōtāhuhu and Panmure that were established on volcanic soils more suitable for farming. The Government was widely criticised for not providing many employment opportunities for the fencible settlers. Early settlers often found work on Government projects such as road construction, drainage or clearing allotments, while others worked for farmers. Many fencibles lived in Auckland for work, but were obliged to return to Howick on Sundays, otherwise they could be charged with mutiny under the Fencibles Act.

Howick grew to become a service centre for the surrounding rural areas. The settlers were dependent on water transport and ferry services, until the construction of the Panmure Bridge across the Tāmaki River in 1865. Wheat, potatoes and butter were important industries for the early settlers.

In April 1861, news reached Howick of the imminent Invasion of the Waikato. By July 1863, a defensive blockhouse was constructed at Stockade Hill, In September 1863, the Ngāi Tai village of Ōtau near Clevedon was attacked by the British army, and the village was evacuated, with people moving to communities at the river's mouth. While Māori of South Auckland such as Te Ākitai Waiohua were forced to leave, Ngāi Tai were designated as a "friendly" people by the Crown, and remained neutral in the fighting. After the Native Lands Act of 1865, the Native Land Court confiscated many Ngāi Tai lands. The remaining land was individuated, slowly sold on to European farmers.

In 1865, the capital of New Zealand was moved from Auckland to Wellington. This caused major financial problems for the residents of Howick, as income from butter dropped and land prices plummeted. In 1874, the Pakuranga Hunt was established, and by 1900 had become one of the largest social clubs in Auckland. The Hunt was based in East Tāmaki, organising hare hunts and country balls for the wider area. By 1960, the hunt had relocated Karaka.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the wheat fields of the area were gradually replaced with dairy farms. In the 1910s and 1920s, areas such as Bucklands Beach, Eastern Beach, Shelly Park and Cockle Bay became a popular holidaying destinations for Aucklanders. Suburban housing was constructed, and seasonal holiday communities developed around these beaches.

In 1952, Howick split from the Manukau County to form its own borough. Major suburban growth occurred in East Auckland from the 1950s to the 1970s, including the development of many new suburbs surrounding Howick and Pakuranga. In 1965, the Pakuranga Town Centre (now known as Pakuranga Plaza) was officially opened. It was the second modern American-style mall constructed in Auckland.

In 1964, a new eastern city centred around Howick was proposed, covering the modern Howick local board area and the Pōhutukawa Coast. These areas were merged into the newly founded Manukau City in 1965, and the Local Government Commission scuttled plans for an eastern city in 1972.

In the 1980s and 1990s, East Auckland developed significant Asian migrant communities. Entrepreneur Kit Wong, inspired by his parents' experiences of isolation living in Auckland, developed commercial and restaurant spaces in Meadowlands and Somerville as spaces for Chinese New Zealander communities to develop. In 2007, Fo Guang Shan Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in New Zealand, was opened in Flat Bush.

In 1981 Lloyd Elsmore Park, a multi-purpose urban park, sporting facility and home to the Howick Historical Village, was officially opened. The Botany Town Centre shopping precinct opened in 2001.

In the mid-2000s, new large-scale housing subdivisions were constructed to the south, including Flat Bush, Dannemora and East Tāmaki Heights. Ormiston Town Centre was officially opened to the public in 2021. The Flat Bush area is expected to grow to 40,000 residents by 2025. The Eastern Busway, a project to link Botany to Panmure by rapid transport, began construction in 2019. The busway opened to Pakuranga in 2021, with the entire project scheduled to open by the mid-2020s.