KORINITI

The Māori settlement of Operiki was one of the larger on the Whanganui River, with a population of about 200. In 1848 the village was abandoned and a new one built in better
agricultural land nearby at Otukopiri, renamed Koriniti by the missionary Richard Taylor, a Māori transliteration of Corinth. Across the river from Koriniti, and reachable only by boat or cable car, is the Flying Fox Lodge.

The local marae (Māori meeting place) is known as Koriniti Marae or Otukopiri Marae. It has three wharenui (meeting houses): Hikurangi Wharerata; the original whare, Te Waiherehere, restored by Hõri Pukehika in 1921; and Poutama, moved across the river from Karatia (Galatia) in 1967. Ōperika pā, the original home of Ngāti Pamoana, is nearby.

In the 19th century Māori at Koriniti raised £400 to build a flour mill, which was completed in 1854, the same year as the Kawana flour mill near Matahiwi.

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