{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=February 2021}} '''Awaiti''' is a rural community in the Hauraki District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, west of Paeroa.
''Awaiti'' is a Māori word, meaning "little stream".<ref name="buchanan" />
==Geography==
The area is predominantly farmland.<ref name="buchanan" />
Two canals, Awaiti and Bancrofts, drain from the Kopuatai Peat Dome and surrounding farmland into Tee Head Canal in the Piako River system. The canals have low biodiversity, with a small population of fish which can tolerate the low-quality water.<ref name="hicks">{{cite book |last1=Hicks |first1=Brendan |title=Boat electrofishing survey of the Awaiti and Bancrofts canals (Tee Head Canal), Piako River system |date=2018 |publisher=Environmental Research Institute |location=Hamilton |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/12367/ERI-rept-110-Boat-electrofishing-survey-of-the-Tee-Head-Canal.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y}}</ref>
==History==
===Early history===
Awaiti is in the ''rohe'' (traditional tribal area) of the Ngāti Tamaterā people.<ref name="Prickett1990">{{Cite Q|Q58677392}}</ref> There were previously two ''pā'' (defensive settlements) in the area; one became a ''tapū'' (sacred) burial ground.<ref name="buchanan">{{cite journal |last1=Buchanan |first1=Bruce |title=Te Awaiti |journal=Ohinemuri Regional History Journal |date=16 June 1972 |volume=16}}</ref>
Europeans began cattle farming in Awaiti in the late 19th century. In the 1890s, it was a place of "mud and wet and cows" which was only accessible by the river. Ngāti Tamaterā farmed battering pigs and horses.<ref name="buchanan" />
At the turn of the century, local Māori and Pākehā regularly gathered for social events, including a New Year's Eve sports day.<ref name="buchanan" />
===Modern history===
Following the end of World War I in 1918, six returned servicemen settled farms in the area.<ref name="buchanan" />
By the 1970s, the area had sealed roads, electricity, and tanker milk delivery to a dairy factory.<ref name="buchanan" />
There was a small scrub fire in the area in late December 2020.<ref name="nzcity">{{cite news |title=A scrub fire in rural Awaiti near Paeroa has now been put out |url=https://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=324693 |agency=Newstalk ZB |publisher=NZCity |date=27 December 2020}}</ref> It may have been caused by lightning from a thunder storm passing the area at the time.<ref name="leaman">{{cite news |last1=Leaman |first1=Aaron |title=Firefighters extinguish grass fire threatening homes at Port Waikato |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/123850949/firefighters-extinguish-grass-fire-threatening-homes-at-port-waikato |agency=Waikato Times |publisher=stuff.co.nz |date=31 December 2020}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Hauraki District}}
{{coord|-37.4071976|175.56893|display=title|region:NZ_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki}}
Category:Hauraki District Category:Populated places in Waikato