Manunui

Manunui
Mananui (Māori)
Manunui c. 1908–1915, showing the Ellis and Burnand sawmill
Manunui c. 1908–1915, showing the Ellis and Burnand sawmill
Etymology: Corruption of the Māori Mananui, meaning great mana, referring to the mana of Paparangi.[1]
Map of New Zealand showing the location of Manunui
Map of New Zealand showing the location of Manunui
Manunui
Location of Manunui in New Zealand
Coordinates: 38°53′46″S 175°19′26″E / 38.896°S 175.324°E / -38.896; 175.324
Country New Zealand
RegionManawatū-Whanganui
DistrictRuapehu District
Elevation
200 m (700 ft)

Manunui (Māori: Mananui) is a small Whanganui River settlement, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Taumarunui on State Highway 4, in New Zealand's King Country. It was once known as Waimarino, but John Burnand of the Ellis and Burnand sawmilling firm renamed it Manunui around 1905.[2]

Manunui is the home of the Ngāti Hinemihi and Ngāti Manunui hapū of the iwi Ngāti Tūwharetoa.[3][4] Their Maniaiti Marae and Te Aroha o Ngā Mātua Tūpuna meeting house also have affiliations with the Ngāti Hāua hapū of Ngāti Hekeāwai and Ngāti Hāua, and with the Ngāti Tūwharetoa.[5][6]

Another marae in the area, Matua Kore Marae and its Matua Kore meeting house, is affiliated with the Ngāti Hāua hapū of Ngāti Hāuaroa, Ngāti Hinewai and Ngāti Poutama.[5][6]

Ellis and Burnand opened a sawmill in Manunui in 1901, specialising in milling kahikatea to make boxes of its odourless wood for the butter export industry.[7] After the North Island Main Trunk Railway reached the settlement in 1903, the mill grew to be the largest in the region. It closed in 1942.[2]

Manunui became a manufacturing and farming centre as the native forest around it was milled and cleared. At one point it was a town district (requiring a population of at least 500; the population was 515 in 1911[8]), but merged back with Taumarunui county in the late 1970s; today is functionally a suburb of Taumarunui.[9]

  1. ^ "Place name detail: Manunui". New Zealand Gazetteer. New Zealand Geographic Board. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b Pollock, Keryn (25 March 2015). "King Country places - Taumarunui". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Wai 1130 Te Kāhui Maunga: The National Park District Inquiry Report, Chapter 2: Ngā Iwi o te Kāhui Maunga". Waitangi Tribunal. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  4. ^ "Maniaiti". Māori Maps. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Te Kāhui Māngai directory". tkm.govt.nz. Te Puni Kōkiri.
  6. ^ a b "Māori Maps". maorimaps.com. Te Potiki National Trust.
  7. ^ "Kaitieke, the Benjamin of Counties". Auckland Star. 7 May 1913. Retrieved 29 Nov 2015.
  8. ^ "New Zealand Official Yearbook 1914".
  9. ^ Pollock, Keryn (13 July 2012). "King Country region - Government and politics". Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 November 2015.