In a little bay of land near where the Nurses' Home of the Whangarei Base Hospital is now situated, was the assembly ground of the Parawhau tribe. This was the important gathering place where the chiefs were selected, and where they prepared for battle - making decisions as to their plans of attack and practicing their haka.

The haka was a significant part of an attack, and was usually performed in some convenient position at the foot of a pa that was being raided, just before an assault was made. A haka served two purposes - firstly to stir up the lust for battle and intensify the desire for revenge, and secondly to put the fear of death into the hearts of the defenders. So the practicing of their actions and battle cries was of great importance to the warriors.

Just alongside the assembly ground and around the area now known as Silverstream, were some of the Parawhau's ancient places of residence, which were still occupied when the first Pakeha, William Carruth, settled in Whangarei in 1839.

Kirikiri Stream runs through this area, right back to the foot of the hills, which were then covered with dense bush, and when the Parawhau warriors returned from their wars, they used to drag their canoes up this creek which was much deeper than it is now, and hide them in tile bush until required for their next battle.

Near this spot was a secret torere, or cave, where the Parawhau used to keep their valuable possessions safe from the eyes of marauding tribes. Along the ridge running from the hospital to Black Quarry up to Puriri Park Road was the fortified area, where the women and children were hidden in times of attack while the men did battle with the enemy.

Before the site of the present Whangarei Base Hospital was bought from George Clark-Walker in 1898, it had, of course, belonged to the Maoris, and he had negotiated for its purchase with the leading chiefs who included Taurau, Tito and Whareumu.

The chiefs' decision to sell was one involving long and earnest discussions lasting many days and nights, for on this site was their sacred wahitapu, where the precious bones of their ancestors lay.

Eventually, they decided that they would sell but not until all ceremonial rites had been observed and they had transferred the bones of their tupuna to the Ruarangi Caves. Although the tapu was lifted from the site, even in comparatively recent times, no Maori would go to the original TB Shelter because it was built on a wahitapu.

�When Wilsons Portland Cement bought the Ruarangi Caves 1965, the bones were again removed to another burial site.

Reference: Florence Keene, Tai Tokerau, Northland Room, Whangarei Library