Dannevirke is a rural service town in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is the major town of the administrative Tararua District

Tararua District

The Tararua District lies near the south-east corner of New Zealand's North Island. Created in 1989, it was named after the Tararua Range, which forms much of its western boundary. It has a population of and an area of 4,360.56 km²....

, the easternmost of the districts in which the Regional Council has responsibilities. The surrounding area has developed into dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

, beef cattle and sheep farming, which now provides the major income for the town's population of 6,000.
Prior to the arrival of the European settlers in the 1870s, the line of descent for Maori in the area was from the Kurahaupo

Kurahaupo

In Taranaki tribal tradition, Kurahaupō is known as 'Te Waka Pakaru ki te moana' or 'The Canoe broken at sea', and was reputed to have arrived in Aotearoa in the same generation as the other great migration vessels of the Māori like Aotea, Mataatua, Takitimu, Tainui, Arawa etc...

 waka.