Whirinaki is a locality in the south Hokianga

Hokianga

Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as The Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand....

, in Northland, 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...

. The name means "to lean against a support". Highway 12 runs through it. Opononi

Opononi

Opononi is a settlement on the south shore of the Hokianga harbour in Northland Region, New Zealand. State Highway 12 runs through Opononi. Omapere lies to the south and Whirinaki lies to the north east....

 lies to the south west, and Rawene

Rawene

Rawene is a town on the south side of the Hokianga harbour, in Northland, New Zealand. State Highway 12 passes to the south. The town lies at the apex of a peninsula...

 lies to the north east.

The population is approximately 200 people, 90% of which are Māori. A large proportion of the population lives on papakāinga land.

The area was raided by Te Roroa

Te Roroa

Te Roroa is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand....

 in 1810 or 1811, during the Musket Wars

Musket Wars

The Musket Wars were a series of five hundred or more battles mainly fought between various hapū , sometimes alliances of pan-hapū groups and less often larger iwi of Māori between 1807 and 1842, in New Zealand.Northern tribes such as the rivals Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Whātua were the first to obtain...

. All the inhabitants of Opara village were killed.

Education

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Tonga o Hokianga is a coeducational full primary (years 1-8) school with a decile rating

Socio-Economic Decile

Decile, Socio-Economic Decile or Socio-Economic Decile Band is a widely used measure in education in New Zealand used to target funding and support to more needy schools....

 of 2 and a roll of 57. It is a Kura Kaupapa Māori

Kura Kaupapa Maori

Kura Kaupapa Māori are Māori-language immersion schools where the philosophy and practice reflect Māori cultural values with the aim of revitalising Māori language, knowledge and culture...

 school which teaches fully in the Māori language

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

.

There was a Whirinaki Native School during the early-mid 20th century.