Upokongaro or à ªpokongaro is a settlement adjacent to the Whanganui River, located upriver from Whanganui, New Zealand, in the Makirikiri Valley. Settled by Europeans in the 1860s, it was an important ferry crossing and riverboat stop. A spectacular discovery of moa bones was made in the area in the 1930s.
The village's name in MÃÂori, à «poko (head) ngaro (hidden), refers to a story of how chief's daughter Ira-nga-rangi arranged to have her head removed upon her death and hidden by relatives, who feared it might be desecrated by enemies. Supposedly the preserved head was hidden in a cave on the banks of the à ªpokongaro Stream north of the settlement, from which the village takes its name.
At the time of European contact, both à ªpokongaro and adjacent settlements Waipakura and Kukuta were home to the NgÃÂti Patutokotoko hapà « of the iwi Te ÃÂti Haunui-a-PÃÂpÃÂrangi. NgÃÂti Iringirangi and Nga Paerangi are also noted as being present. The fortified hilltop pàat à ªpokongaro was called Opiu; during the tense times of the 1840s, Opiu was pulled down and abandoned.
Waipakura, south of à ªpokongaro, was one of a number of native reserves set aside in the 1848 Deed of Sale; some of it was leased to settlers in the 1860s. à ªpokongaro was described as a "small pÃÂ" in 1865, and MÃÂori settlement persisted until at least the 1880s. The pàsite at Opiu was used as a refuge for settlers' wives and children in 1862, when there were fears of Hau Hau war parties, and was later turned into a redoubt.
In 1866, settler John Kennedy built a hotel and a store (later the post office); during the 1870s and '80s, the local name for à ªpokongaro was "Kennedy's". A school was built in 1870, known from 1873âÂÂ1879 as the North Makirikiri or "River Bank" school.
The schoolroom functioned for Anglican services in the mid 1870s, but in 1877 St Mary's Anglican Church was built. Designed by local architect Edward Morgan and built by John Randal, St Mary's is distinctive in having a spire with a triangular cross-section, on a four-sided steeple. Its stained glass window was installed in 1879, in memory of Archibald Montgomery, a young Upokongaro man lost in the sinking of the clipper Avalanche in the English Channel just before the church was completed. St Mary's is the oldest church in the Whanganui District on its original site.
In the 1930s, thousands of moa bones were recovered from mud springs in the Upokongaro Valley at Makirikiri by a Whanganui Museum expedition. Life-sized concrete moa sculptures commemorating this can be seen on the main road outside the Upokongaro Cafe.
Upokongaro locality covers . It is part of the larger Upper Whanganui statistical area.
Upokongaro had a population of 120 in the 2023 New Zealand census, an increase of 15 people (14.3%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 18 people (17.6%) since the 2013 census. There were 66 males and 54 females in 45 dwellings. 2.5% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 53.1 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 15 people (12.5%) aged under 15 years, 21 (17.5%) aged 15 to 29, 54 (45.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 27 (22.5%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 87.5% European (PÃÂkehÃÂ), 32.5% MÃÂori, and 2.5% Pasifika. English was spoken by 97.5%, MÃÂori by 7.5%, and other languages by 2.5%. No language could be spoken by 2.5% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 2.5%. The percentage of people born overseas was 5.0, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 30.0% Christian, and 5.0% MÃÂori religious beliefs. People who answered that they had no religion were 52.5%, and 12.5% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 9 (8.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 57 (54.3%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 39 (37.1%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $28,400, compared with $41,500 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 54 (51.4%) full-time, 15 (14.3%) part-time, and 3 (2.9%) unemployed.
Upokongaro School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of It opened in 1870.
à ªpokongaro is on the Mountains to Sea cycle trail (NgàAra Tà «hono), at the junction of the Whanganui River Road and à ªpokongaro to the Tasman Sea sections. The sections are linked by à ªpokongaro Cycle Bridge, which opened on 2 December 2020. The long bridge and cycle path link to it cost $3.4m.
The Nankeen night heron is rare in New Zealand, but a population has established along the Whanganui River. This is the only place in New Zealand where they are known to be resident. The first confirmed breeding of Nankeen night herons in the Whanganui area was observed at Pipiriki in February 1994. Night herons have been observed in trees behind a cafe in Upokongaro, and nested there in 2023, attracting the interest of bird watchers and photographers, and leading to the publication of a book about the bird.