| Young Nick's Head / Te Kurī | |
| Type: | Headland |
| Map: | New Zealand |
| Relief: | 1 |
| Location: | Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay, New Zealand |
| Elevation M: | --> |
| Surface Elevation M: | --> |
| Type: | --> |
Young Nick's Head / Te Kurī is a headland at the southern end of Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay in New Zealand's North Island. The area is the landing place of the Horouta and Te Ikaroa-a-Rauru waka which carried Māori settlers to the region around 1350 AD.[1] In Māori, the promontory is named Te Kuri o Pāoa (alternatively known as Te Kuri, or Te Kuri a Pawa).[2]
The settlement of Muriwai is located just inland.[3]
Young Nick's Head was the first land sighted by the crew of Captain James Cook's ship, Endeavour on Friday 6 October 1769.[4] Cook promised a reward to the first crewman to sight land and this reward was delivered to 12-year-old Nicholas Young, assistant to the ship's surgeon, in the form of two gallons of rum and the name of a prominent landmark.[5] [6]
Prior to Cook's arrival, the headland was known to Māori as Te Kuri o Pāoa, which translates to "The Dog of Pāoa".[7] Māori legends recount that Pāoa lost his kurī (Māori dog) in the Poverty Bay area and the dog is still there waiting for his master to return. It is said at dawn the white cliffs resemble the outline of a dog in a crouching position.[8]
Nick's Head Station is a 661 hectare property consisting of the headland and its surrounding coastal, wetland and farming areas.[9] It was listed for sale in November 2000 and in January 2002 New York financier John Griffin entered into a contract to purchase it for $4 million after an attempt by the Ngāi Tāmanuhiri iwi failed through lack of finance.[10]
Protesting against foreign ownership of the culturally and historically significant land, a group of local Māori led by Tu Wyllie[11] occupied Young Nick's Head and staged protests at Parliament.[12] [13] After negotiations with iwi took place, Finance Minister Michael Cullen announced in August 2002 that “Young Nick’s Head will be protected and the cliffs, pā site and peak of Te Kuri gifted into public ownership as part of a purchase deal for Young Nick’s Station”. Griffin also agreed upon purchasing the land to establish an open covenant through the Queen Elizabeth II National Trust to protect the remainder of the headland area from commercial development.
The station is currently owned by Griffin. After buying it, he engaged in a long-term plan to restore the area's vegetation and wildlife.[14] More than 600,000 trees were planted, 26 hectares of wetlands were restored, and a 2-metre-high predator-proof fence was constructed as native species such as tuatara, blue penguin and wētā were reintroduced.[15] In 2005 Ecoworks, an ecological restoration company in Gisborne, successfully used solar-powered, acoustic-attraction methods and artificial burrows to establish breeding colonies of six pelagic seabird species at Young Nick's Head which had previously been severely affected by human colonisation and the introduction of new predators.[16] [17]
Under the Ngai Tāmanuhiri Claims Settlement Act 2012, Young Nick’s Head/Te Kuri a Paoa Historic Reserve became a national reserve per section 13 of the Reserves Act 1977 and was renamed Te Kuri a Paoa/Young Nick’s Head National Historic Reserve.[18]