Port Levy (Māori: Koukourarata) is a long, sheltered bay and settlement on Banks Peninsula in Canterbury, New Zealand. The current population is under 100, but in the mid-19th century it was the largest Māori settlement in Canterbury with a population of about 400 people.[1] It is named after Solomon Levey, an Australian merchant and ship owner who sent a number of trading vessels to the Banks Peninsula area during the 1820s.
The bay was settled by the Ngai Tūāhuriri sub-tribe of Ngāi Tahu, and the chief Moki named the bay "Koukourarata" after a stream in Wellington that recalls the birth of his father, Tu Ahuriri.[2] It was also the home of Tautahi, the chief after whom the swampland area Ōtautahi was named – now the site of the city of Christchurch.
Koukourarata marae, a marae (tribal meeting ground) of Ngāi Tahu and its Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata branch, is located at Port Levy.[3] It includes the Tūtehuarewa wharenui (meeting house).[4] The first Māori Anglican church was built at Port Levy and a stone memorial marks the site.
Portions of the Peter Jackson film Heavenly Creatures were shot in Port Levy — specifically the scenes where Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme, two 16-year-old girls from Christchurch, saw their imaginary Fourth World.
The three hapū of Koukourarata are Ngāi Tūhaitara, Ngāi Tūtehuarewa and Ngāti Huikai.
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Settlements |
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Port Hills suburbs |
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Māori pā and kāinga |
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