Pūtiki Pā, recorded variously as Putiki Wharanui, Putiki Wharenui, Putiki Warenui, or by its full name Putiki-wharanui-a-Tamatea-pokai-whenua, as a well established pā well before European arrival. The was attacked by Ngāti Toa in a bloody two-month siege in 1828 or 1829. About 400 locals were killed in the encounter. Pūtiki was the main Māori settlement at the Whanganui River mouth when Europeans began settling on the river in the 1840s. Māori from Pūtiki signed a deed of purchase with Edward Gibbon Wakefield for the Wanganui township, but chiefs later said they didn't consider the deed to be significant. A Church Missionary Society mission station was established next to the settlement in 1841. Many leaders converted to Christianity. Missionary Richard Taylor oversaw the establishment of the region's first mill at Awarua Stream in 1945. Wheat was locally grown, milled into flour and used to make bread, a staple of the colonial era diet. Europeans formed the Wanganui township across the river. The people of Pūtiki had strong economic links with the new settlement and had a protective attitude towards it. Pūtiki Māori fought alongside the Crown against Māori further upriver in 1847, capturing six men who had killed local farmer John Alexander Gilfillan's wife Mary and three of their children. They also fought alongside the Crown in 1864, in another battle against upriver Pai Mārire Māori on Moutoa Island, to protect the European township. The following year, European women gave Pūtiki Māori a large flag to celebrate the victory. A photograph held by the National Library of New Zealand reportedly shows Pūtiki Māori meeting with Governor George Grey during a hui at the pā in 1864. In 1986, Mete Paetahi, a Ngāti Poutama chief from Pūtiki, became the first electorate MP for the Western Māori electorate.
20th century
Two platoons Māori Battalion were welcomed back to Pūtiki Pā i May 1919 after fighting in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front during World War I. They were the only battalion to return to New Zealand as a complete unit, and were welcomed back with rousing parades and receptions across the country. The Moutoa flag from 1865 flew at the event. On 5 December 1937 Bishop F.A. Bennett consecrated Saint Paul’s Memorial Church on the site of the original 1841 Christian mission. It was the fifth church on the site; the previous four had been destroyed by fire, by a flood, by an earthquake, and by dry rot. The church was built as a memorial to those who had served the Anglican Church since the mission was first established. The church is plain and conventional on the outside, but the inside features extensive Māori carvings and artwork. Sir Apirana Ngata brought tutors and student carvers to create the carvings, and four women were sent to Wellington learn harakeke tukutuku weaving patterns. On 22 December 1963 Governor-General Sir Bernard Fergusson unveiled a framed memorial cross at the church, dedicated to local Māori and Europeans who had died in both world wars. The cross is now displayed on the church porch, under a memorial plaque to Te Teira and Henare Metekingi who died in World War I.
