Puketona is a locality at the junction of State Highway 10 and State Highway 11 in the Far North District of New Zealand.

Kerikeri Kerikeri () is the largest town in Northland, New Zealand. It is a tourist destination north of Auckland and north of the northern region's largest city, Whangarei. It is sometimes called the Cradle of the Nation, as it was the site of th ...

is 10 kilometres north, Paihia is 14 kilometres east,

Moerewa Moerewa is a small town in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located close to the Bay of Islands five kilometres to the west of Kawakawa. Moerewa is a service town for the surrounding farming industry. Its main ind ...

is 15 kilometres southeast, and Kaikohe is 20 kilometres southwest. The name means vagina or vulva in the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

Geography

There are six or seven small scoria cones around Puketona, one of which was host to Puketona Pā in the 18th century. Charles Darwin made observations of these cones in December 1835. The cones have been quarried since the 1950s.

Demographics

The statistical area of Puketona-Waitangi also includes Waitangi and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Before the 2023 census, the statistical area had a smaller boundary, covering . Using that boundary, Puketona-Waitangi had a population of 1,335 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 195 people (17.1%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 228 people (20.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 522 households, comprising 705 males and 633 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.11 males per female. The median age was 48.6 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 231 people (17.3%) aged under 15 years, 180 (13.5%) aged 15 to 29, 627 (47.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 300 (22.5%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 85.6% European/Pākehā, 24.9% Māori, 0.9% Pacific peoples, 2.5% Asian, and 1.6% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 21.1, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 58.7% had no religion, 29.0% were Christian, 2.0% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% were Hindu, 0.2% were Muslim, 0.7% were Buddhist and 1.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 192 (17.4%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 171 (15.5%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $30,900, compared with $31,800 nationally. 168 people (15.2%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 528 (47.8%) people were employed full-time, 183 (16.6%) were part-time, and 33 (3.0%) were unemployed.

History

Puketona was a

Pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites o ...

and the site of the battle of Taumataiwi or Wai-whariki between Ngāti Maru and

Ngāti Rangi Ngāti Rangi or Ngāti Rangituhia is a Māori iwi (tribe) of New Zealand. Contemporary settlement is mainly around Waiouru, Ohakune, and the Upper Whanganui River in the central North Island. The iwi's area of interest extends north from the Paret ...

of Ngāpuhi in about 1793. It was part of a purchase of about of land by Henry Williams on 28 May 1839, from Hōne Heke and 30 other Māori people. He had the property taken care of by shepherds from 1840. One of these was murdered, and the case was reported as the first case of murder dealt with under British justice in New Zealand. In 1851 he transferred the property to his son Edward Marsh Williams, who built a house there in 1860 or 1861, and lived there until 1881. The house, now known as Choat House, is listed as a Category 1 Historic Place. The road between Paihia and Pakaraka, passing through Puketona, was sealed from 1939, although the quality of the new road appears to have been lacking. Electricity was first supplied to the area in the mid 1940s.

References

{{Far North District Far North District Populated places in the Northland Region