Whakatane (to act as a man) - This story springs from the 12th Century Great Migration. The women of the Mataatua Canoe, left to themselves when the men went ashore for the first time, found a waka (canoe) drifting out to sea again. The paddles were tapu to women, but a high spirited teenager, Wairaka, who was the daughter of Chief Toroa, boldly seized one of the paddles and paddled the waka back to shore. As she did this, she shouted, Kia Whakatane au i ahau:, and her actions saved the women but also coined the name of the town. A bronze statue of Wairaka stands on a rock at the Whakatane Heads to commemorate this act.

Although it's called Wairaka..it's actually a statue commemorating then mayor William Sullivan's wife.. after she died in the 60's, he had it put there in her memory and to do with the connections in this district.

In 1963 Lady Sullivan died while enroute to England and was buried at sea.

Sir William commissioned Jim Allen, Senior Lecturer at Elam School of Art, Auckland, to create the sculpture Wairaka both in memory of this wife and as a symbol of the bond between all citizens of the Whakatane District.

After two years of planning, his gift of the statue of Wairaka was placed on Turuturu-Roimata rock at the mouth of the Whakatāne River, with 1000 people turning out to witness its dedication; few could have known just what an important symbol of the town it would become.'