Onepu is a small locality in the Bay of Plenty Region of the North Island

North Island

The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...

 of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Onepu is situated between Kawerau and Te Teko

Te Teko

Te Teko is a small inland township in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. According to the 2001 New Zealand Census of Population and Dwellings, its population is 627, a decrease of 3 from the previous census in 2001...

 along State Highway 34

New Zealand State Highway network

The New Zealand State Highway network is the major national highway network in New Zealand. Just under 100 roads in both the North and South Islands are State Highways...

, and lies immediately north-east of the Norske Skog Tasman pulp and paper mill

Tasman Mill

The Tasman Mill is a pulp and paper mill located just outside the town of Kawerau in New Zealand. Tasman Mill is the largest single in employer in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. Three separate companies operate within Tasman including Norske Skog, who operate the paper mill, Carter Holt Harvey,...

. The locality also lies on the Murupara Branch railway. Onepu is situated within Whakatane

Whakatane

Whakatane is a town in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region, in the North Island of New Zealand, and is the seat of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Whakatane is 90 km east of Tauranga and 89 km north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatane River.The town has a population of , with...

 District and is serviced by Rural Delivery route 2. It also had a small airstrip which is now closed.

The name "Onepu" comes from local Māori oral traditions. Onepu was said to be the father of Tūwharetoa, the eponymous ancestor of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Ngati Tuwharetoa

Ngāti Tūwharetoa is an iwi descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tūwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua at Matata across the central plateau of the North Island to the lands around Mount Tongariro and Lake Taupo.The iwi is identified...

 iwi. The children of Tūwharetoa travelled down to the Taupo

Taupo

Taupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....

 region and settled there, establishing the Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi that is located between Taupo and Kawerau. The meeting house of Hahuru Marae

Marae

A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...

at the Onepu locality is named after the mother of Tūwharetoa. Historically, "Onepu" was also the name of the surrounding district, including the site of the present town of Kawerau.

External links

• Onepu at the New Zealand Geographic Placenames Database