This bas-relief panel set into a stone wall features multiple scenes of Māori and early European settlers, including depictions of Mount Pirongia and Mount Kakepuku, the Tainui canoe, the palisades of the Otawhao Pā which stood on the high ground now occupied by Wallace Terrace, and the carved whare runanga, Maketu House. The right hand of the panel shows ears of wheat, a staple food of the Europeans which was grown exclusively in the Te Awamutu district between 1840-1864, a church and European-style buildings.

The panel was cast in marble concrete from a clay relief model created by Barbara Packwood (Auckland) based on a design by Yvonne Rust.

Packwood was an arts teacher at Auckland Girls Grammar School, and is said to be the only girl to have gained a Fine Arts diploma in sculpture from the Canterbury College School of Art at the time.

In the book, Yvonne Rust QSM: Maverick Spirit, Theresa Sjoquist suggests this work was the result of a contract that Yvonne Rust won in late 1954. Offered £84 to complete the work Yvonne returned half this sum as “a personal contribution to the monument.” Begun on 1 December 1954, the clay work was completed by 2 February 1955, in time for the opening of the park.

A plaque mounted near the work states:

"This historical panel represents the merger in the Waipā District of the Maori and Pakeha ways of life. The left side of the panel depicts the Maori way of life from the time of the landing of the Tainui canoe. European history is represented by the figures on the right. The central allegorical figure represents the future supported on either side by a Maori and a Pakeha.”

See also:

• Theresa Sjoquist, Yvonne Rust QSM: Maverick Spirit, (David Ling Publishing: 2011), p71.

• ‘History of District told in panel at Memorial Park’, Te Awamutu Courier. N.D.