Moutoa Island is an island of shingle approximately long, up the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natura ...

, New Zealand between the towns of

Rānana Ranana is a settlement up the Whanganui River from Whanganui, New Zealand. Originally known as Kauika, it grew after 1848 as local Māori moved out of fortified pā settlements in peacetime. It was renamed by the missionary Richard Taylor in 18 ...

and

Hiruharama Hiruhārama is a village and rural community in the Gisborne District of New Zealand's North Island. It is located just south of Ruatoria and north of Makarika, on State Highway 35. The area has two marae. Hiruharama Marae and Kapohanga a Rang ...

. Surrounded by rapids, it has been the site of many battles, the most famous being on 14 May 1864, between a force of

Pai Mārire The Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was a syncretic Māori religion founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumēne. It flourished in the North Island from about 1863 to 1874. Pai Mārire incorporated biblical and Māori spiritual ...

followers from the upper Whanganui and

Ngāti Hau Ngāti Hau are the Māori ''iwi'' (tribes) of the Whanganui River area in New Zealand. There are two stories of where the name ''Ngāti Hau'' comes from. One is that it comes from Haupipi, who arrived in New Zealand on the '' Aotea'' canoe, afte ...

from the lower Whanganui, during the

Second Taranaki War The Second Taranaki War is a term used by some historians for the period of hostilities between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand between 1863 and 1866. The term is avoided by some historians, who eit ...

. A statue unveiled in 1865 in Moutoa Gardens in

Whanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whangan ...

commemorates the battle.

References

Whanganui River Landforms of Manawatū-Whanganui River islands of New Zealand {{ManawatuWanganui-geo-stub