HISTORY MARKED: Horizons Regional Council chairman Bruce Gordon speaks at a memorial unveiling. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED 26052015WCSUPBRUCE
A Rangitikei River stone monument commemorating a significant Treaty of Waitangi signing site has been unveiled near Tangimoana.
Exactly 175 years after three Nga Wairiki-Ngati Apa chiefs signed the Treaty at Tawhirihoe - a riverside site near the Manawatu village - local iwi, school children and territorial authority representatives gathered
to reflect and celebrate.
Located beside a Horizons Regional Council stopbank, the spot looks out across the Tawhirihoe signing site where the chiefs received missionaries Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield. They presented the treaty document on behalf of the Crown on May 21, 1840.
The monument was unveiled last Thursday by two direct descendants of signatory Te Hakeke, as well as a Tangimoana School student and Marton Junction School student.
"The site was formerly a kainga [small traditional settlement] which was also used as a seasonal launch pad for sea fishing by our people," Te Runanga o Ngati Apa lands and environment manager Chris Shenton said. "We view this monument as a first step along the way to further enhancing the site so people can recognise the area and further understand its significance historically."
