Te Ara o Tūrongo Ceremony

Following the atrocities at Rangiaowhia and the battle at O-Rākau between the British troops in 1864, Maniapoto established an Aukati line (boundary) to restrict any foreign entry into the rohe. Through a series of assurances known as Te Ohākī Tapu, Maniapoto eventually agreed to the construction of the railway line through Maniapoto lands.

On Wednesday 15th April 1885, a Turning of the Sod ceremony was held on the southern side of the Pūniu river, which marked the opening of the rohe. At that ceremony, Reihana Wahanui Te Huatare proposed Tūrongo as the name for the railway line within the Maniapoto rohe.

134 years later, in September 2019, the fulfilment of that proposal was realised and the railway line within the rohe was officially recognised as Te Ara o Tūrongo.