Ōtaki is a town in the Kapiti Coast District of the North Island of New Zealand, situated half way between the capital city Wellington, to the southwest, and Palmerston North, to the northeast. Ōtaki is located on New Zealand State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway between Wellington and Auckland and marks the northernmost point of the Wellington Region. The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of sticking a staff into the ground" for . History Since the early 19th century, the area has been home to Māori of the Ngāti Raukawa iwi who had migrated from the Kawhia area from about 1819, under the leadership of Te Rauparaha. They had supplanted the Rangitāne and Muaūpoko people. At the request of Te Rauparaha, missionaries Henry Williams and Octavius Hadfield visited the area in December and Hadfield opened the first mission in the Wellington Region at Otaki. At the nearby Raukawa marae is the Rangiātea Church, the original of which was completed in 1851. Burnt down in 1995, it was completely rebuilt by 2003. The Reverend James McWilliam was Clergyman in charge of the Maori Mission in Otaki under the Church Missionary Society of England from 1868 to 1906 with the support of his wife, Emily McWilliam. Marae The community has two marae, affiliated with the iwi of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and its hapū. Te Pou o Tainui Marae and Kapumanawawhiti meeting house are affiliated with the hapū of Ngāti Kapumanawawhiti. In October 2020, the Government committed $159,203 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, and create 12 jobs. Raukawa Marae and meeting house are affiliated with the hapū of Ngāti Korokī, Ngāti Maiotaki and Ngāti Pare. In October 2020, the Government committed $337,112 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the marae, and create 12 jobs. Pukekaraka Marae in Ōtaki was the site of a Catholic mission from 1842. It includes the Roma meeting house, built in 1904, and Hine Nui O Te Ao Katoa meeting house, built for tangi and larger gatherings in 1905. The marae has been used by both Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga and Muaupoko. In October 2020, the Government committed $143,984 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade the site, creating an estimated 8 jobs. Demographics The statistical area of Ōtaki covers , It had an estimated population of as of with