Otaua is a rural settlement in the

Waikato District Waikato District is a territorial authority of New Zealand, in the northern part of Waikato region, North Island. Waikato District is administered by the Waikato District Council, with headquarters in Ngāruawāhia. The district is centred to t ...

and

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand's

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 ...

. It is located south of

Waiuku Waiuku is a rural town in the Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the southern end of the Waiuku River, which is an estuarial arm of the Manukau Harbour, and lies on the isthmus of the Āwhitu Peninsula, which ...

and west of Aka Aka, on the northern side of the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

. The Otaua area includes the Waikato North Head on the northern side of the Waikato River mouth, opposite

Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Port Waikato is a well-known surfing and whitebaiting destination and a popular holiday spot. Fish can be caught off the rocks ...

to the south. The Waikato North Head ironsand mine, just south of the settlement, produces up to 1.2 million tonnes of

ironsand Ironsand, also known as iron-sand or iron sand, is a type of sand with heavy concentrations of iron. It is typically dark grey or blackish in colour. It is composed mainly of magnetite, Fe3O4, and also contains small amounts of titanium, silic ...

a year, for use in the

New Zealand Steel New Zealand Steel Limited is the owner of the Glenbrook Steel Mill, the steel mill located 40 kilometres south of Auckland, in Glenbrook, New Zealand. The mill was constructed in 1968 and began producing steel products in 1969. Currently, the ...

mill at Glenbrook. The deposit is estimated to contain more than 150 million tonnes in total. The ironsand is processed on-site with a series of separation processes with river water, before the slurry is pumped to the Glenbrook mill through an 18-kilometre underground pipe. The name ''Otaua'' is a contraction of ''Te Takanga-o-Tauaiwi'', a reference to the falling of Tauaiwi, a descendant of Hotonui of the Tainui waka. Tauiwi was killed at Otaua by Tāmaki Māori and his body fell into a disused pit.

History

Pre-European history

In the mid-1700s, the area was settled by

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

, an iwi formed by the marriage of Te Atairehia of Te Wai-o-Hua, and Tapaue, a

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

warrior. The coast alongside the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

was settled by Ngāti Kahukōkā. Maioro, south-west of Otaua near the shoreline, is the site of a Ngāti Kahukōkā pā. The pā was first settled in the 1200s, becoming fortified with palisades in the 1400s and 1500s.

European settlement century

Otaua developed into a European farming settlement in the 1890s, with a school opening in 1895. The 360m² Otaua community hall was built in 1898. It has since been extensively renovated with modern fittings, and now features an outdoor deck area and tennis courts. Otaua Second World War Roll of Honour was unveiled on the hall on 21 September 1946, commemorating the 43 local residents who had served in the war, including three who had died. Several Otaua servicemen from both wars are also listed in the Waiuku War Memorial Hall, including three who aren't included in the Otaua Roll of Honour. On 20 November 1954, the Otaua District War Memorial Bowling Green was formally opened across the road. It features a modest pavilion that was replaced in 1963. The bowling green entrance is an arch, with a granite memorial plaque reading:

Education

Otaua School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school opened in 1895 and held centennial celebrations in 1995.

References

{{Waikato District Waikato District Populated places in Waikato Populated places on the Waikato River