Kōrero: Memorials and monuments

The Manawatu Tramping Club take a break after helping to clear flax and bracken from the Te Pōrere pā site, about halfway between Tūrangi and National Park. The pā was constructed by the followers of resistance leader Te Kooti, and was the site of the last pitched battle of the New Zealand wars, in October 1869. Te Kooti and most of his followers escaped into the bush. The restoration of the site was an initiative of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust under the leadership of the chair, Ormond Wilson, who took this photograph. The trust was active during these years in restoring the sites of battles in the New Zealand wars, and marking them with small concrete monuments.