The people in the dugout canoe are probably Mr and Mrs W L Luxford and their daughter, while the people on the bank are Septuagesima Shailer (wife of G W Shailer, photographer) and probably two of the Shailer children, of Palmerston North. Awapuni Lagoon was one of 5 original lagoons in Palmerston North when pakeha first settled. It was drained for settlement of the land.