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Story: Mountains

Tongariro in winter

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Tongariro in winter

For Māori, mountains are central to identity, and most tribes have a revered peak. Tongariro, in the central North Island, is important to the Ngāti Tūwharetoa people. In 1887 they gifted the peak, along with Mt Ruapehu and Mt Ngāuruhoe, to the government as the basis of the country’s first national park.

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How to cite this page

Andy Dennis, Mountains – People and mountains, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/14324/tongariro-in-winter (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Andy Dennis, published 1 March 2009, updated 1 February 2017.