The people of Ngāti Awa are preparing to host a national commemoration and the 152nd anniversary of Te Kupenga a Taramainuku Pā.
Te Kupenga was a pre-European settlement of the hapū of Ngāti Awa. It was recognised as a social, political and economic hub of the lower-Rangitāiki region until September 1865 when Crown forces and their loyalist allies invaded the rohe of Ngāti Awa and eventually laid siege to Te Kupenga in pursuit of Ngāti Awa tribes involved in the death of Hemi Fulloon.
This lead to the confiscation of a large part of the tribal rohe.