Onepu is a rural community in the

Whakatāne District Whakatāne District is a territorial authority district on the North Island of New Zealand. The Whakatāne District Council is headquartered in the largest town, Whakatāne. The district falls within the Bay of Plenty region. Judy Turner has ...

and

Bay of Plenty Region The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaway ...

of the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

of New Zealand. It is situated between

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distric ...

and

Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was estab ...

along State Highway 34, and lies immediately north-east of the Norske Skog Tasman pulp and paper mill. The community lies on the

Murupara Branch The Murupara Branch is a long branch railway line from the East Coast Main Trunk (ECMT) at Kawerau to Murupara, built to serve a new pulp and paper mill harvesting the radiata pine trees of the Kaingaroa Forest on the Kaingaroa Plateau in the ...

railway and is serviced by Rural Delivery route 2. A small airfield was located in Onepu, but it is no longer operational due to the geothermal projects running nearby. The name "Onepu" comes from local

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

oral traditions. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "loose sandy soil" for ''Onepū''. Historically, Onepu was also the name of the surrounding district, including the site of the present town of Kawerau. Onepu is within the ''

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''. The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...

'' (tribal area) of the

Ngāti Tūwharetoa 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 (Tarawera River) at Matatā across the central plateau of the North Isla ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

. The Hahuru Marae and meeting house, located west of Onepu, is a tribal meeting place for the

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

of Ngāti Irawharo, Ngāi Tamarangi,

Ngāti Peehi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

, Ngāti Poutomuri, Ngāti Umutahi and Te Aotahi. It is named after the mother of Tūwharetoa, the eponymous ancestor of the iwi.

Demographics

Onepu Spring statistical area, which includes Onepu, covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Onepu Spring had a population of 1,221 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...

, an increase of 135 people (12.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 96 people (8.5%) since the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

. There were 405 households, comprising 618 males and 603 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female. The median age was 44.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 237 people (19.4%) aged under 15 years, 207 (17.0%) aged 15 to 29, 600 (49.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 177 (14.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 74.7% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 41.5%

, 1.2% Pacific peoples, 2.5%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 1.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 11.5, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 52.6% had no religion, 30.5% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, 5.2% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.2% were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 0.2% were

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, 0.2% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 1.5% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 108 (11.0%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 174 (17.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $32,400, compared with $31,800 nationally. 201 people (20.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 534 (54.3%) people were employed full-time, 147 (14.9%) were part-time, and 51 (5.2%) were unemployed.

References

External links

* {{Whakatāne District Whakatane District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region