Mount Taupiri

[1] Until sometime in the 19th century a large Māori village or town, Kaitotehe, stood on the flat land on the other side of the river, below the Hakarimata Range.

[3] In the early 19th century Kaitotehe was the home of Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the paramount chief of Ngāti Mahuta who became the first Māori King.

English explorer and artist George French Angas visited Kaitotehe in 1844 and painted a scene depicting a hui (meeting) taking place in the village.

[3] The present-day burial ground is directly above State Highway 1 and the North Island Main Trunk railway line on a steep slope.

[6] The deceased Māori kings and queen are buried in the highest part of the cemetery, on the summit where Te Putu's pā stood.