The jurisdiction and authority of these elements from Celestial, Esoteric, universal, and natural lores, not from "laws" come from the Io Priesthood. The Manukura hold the spiritual lore of Io, which is authentically our spiritual and indigenous knowledge through the eyes of Arikitanga, Whare Wananga, and Tohungatanga. Without ego, the Lore of The Io Priesthood is the highest lore of our planet, and multi inter-dimentional realms.
1. Te Kakenga ki Te Toi O Ngā Rangi - The Ascension To The 12 Heavens.
2. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Ao Marama - The Unification Of The Natural Living Muliti dimensional-verse.
3. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Moana Nui a Kiwa - The Unification Of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.
4. Te Kapura O Io Matua (Iotanga living spiritual movment).
5. Te Whare Tapu O Kupe-ariki (Arikitanga, to serve our people).
6. Te Whare Kokorangi a Kupe-Ariki (School Of Celetial Navigation).
7. Te Whatupungapunga A Nukutāwhiti Whare Wananga ( School Of Tohunga Development).
8. He Whakaputanga O Ngā Hapu Rangatira O Hokianga (1835 Hokianga, 1840 Mangungu).
9. Ngā Manukura O Te Wakaminenga (Spiritual Protectorate of the sacred jawbone of Io Matua).
2. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Ao Marama - The Unification Of The Natural Living Muliti dimensional-verse.
3. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Moana Nui a Kiwa - The Unification Of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.
4. Te Kapura O Io Matua (Iotanga living spiritual movment).
5. Te Whare Tapu O Kupe-ariki (Arikitanga, to serve our people).
6. Te Whare Kokorangi a Kupe-Ariki (School Of Celetial Navigation).
7. Te Whatupungapunga A Nukutāwhiti Whare Wananga ( School Of Tohunga Development).
8. He Whakaputanga O Ngā Hapu Rangatira O Hokianga (1835 Hokianga, 1840 Mangungu).
9. Ngā Manukura O Te Wakaminenga (Spiritual Protectorate of the sacred jawbone of Io Matua).
Shared by Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tawio (Kupe Ariki Tane)
December 5, 2024
Te Papara (Whakapapa, tātai heke, heke tika) Tūpuna mai I a Io kia Tangaroa nui tahi tumu, Tamatoa Ariki, Turi, Te Ariki Te Pou Aniwaniwa, kia Whitirangimamao me Whiro Tupua, heke mai kia Kupe, Ngātoroirangi, Tinirau, Rātā me Toi. He whakapapa Tātai Arorangi, he whakapapa Whare Wānanga o Te Atuatanga.
Ngā kaupapa matua - Ngā Uri O Hokianga and Ngā Uri O Kupe-Ariki would like to work together with Ra'iatea and Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa We have left all the descent lines here so no one is missed out. However, we are only representing Ngā Uri O Hokianga me Ngā Uri O Kupe-Ariki.
Ngā Waka;
Matawhaorua - Kupe-ariki
Ngātokimatawhaorua - Nukutāwhiti
Mamari - Rūanui ā Tāneroroa
Tāwhirirangi - Ngāhue/Ngake
Nukutāwhiti - Tuputupuwhenua
Puhi Taniwharau - Ngāpuhi
Te Whatupungapunga -
Te Arawa - Ngātoroirangi
Tainui - Hoturoa
Aotea - Turi and many others
Nukutaimemeha - Maui Pōtiki
Anei Ngā Uri (The Descendants)
Te Uri O Māui Tikitii a Taranga
Te Uri O Whiro/Hiro
Te Uri o Tamatoa-ariki
Te Uri O Turi Ariki
Te Uri O Kupe Ariki
Te Uri O Nukutawhiti
Te Uri O Ruānui (mokopuna a Turi)
Te Uri O Ngātoroirangi
Te Uri O Toi Te Huatahi
Te Uri O Tinirau (Heke mai kia Auaukiterangi mā)
Te Uri O Rātā
Te Uri O Tūpāia
Anei Ngā Kaupapa (The Projects) between Hokianga and Raiatea, Taputapuātea
Mokopuna n Uri
1. To create a authentic connection, and opportunity for all our mokopuna and descendants to have a humble and enduring relationship with Hokianga and Raiatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa, Raiatea, Tumaraa, Uturoa and Hokianga.
Hakapapa, Tātai heke, Heke tika
2. Te Whare Tātai Arorangi: The Celestial Geneological Lines of connection be maintained always between Hokianga, Raiatea,Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa, added to and updated where needed. So we have a tangible celestial record of our hakapapa, tātai heke, tātai tika. (Geneology). That we have a living record of the geneology that binds us together.
International School Of Celestial Navigation
3. Te Whare Kokorangi ā Kupe-ariki: The International Celestial School of Navigation (from Hokianga) will work together with Raiatea, and Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa to rebuild with Te Whare Kokorangi the International School of Celestial Navigation at Raiatea for all Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. We also graduated our first Tohunga Tātai Arorangi who has been able to commit 1000 names to memory from the beginning of time to Kupe down to all of the Bloodlines of Raiatea and Hokianga which hasn't been recited for over 2000 years.
A School Of Tohunga or Tahua Development
4. Te Whatupungapunga A Nukutawhiti : School of Tohunga and Tahua Development to work together with Raiatea to rebuild The Whare Tahua - School Of Tahua Development in Ra'iatea, and Taputapuātea. Each student will pay for their trip whether they come from Raiatea or Hokianga, accommodation, food and training will be the responsibility of the host.
The bones of Kupe Nuku in Hokianga
5. Ngā Kōiwi a Kupe ki Hokianga: The return of the bones of Kupe to Hokianga with the Support of Plima Orotai, Te Marae Vaiahu, Maupiti and Paeao. This is completed.
The bones of Kupe in Raiatea
6. Ngā Kōiwi a Kupe ki Ra'iatea; Repatriation of the bones of Kupe-ariki to Ra'iatea, Vaeara'i. To work together with all the Mayor of Taputapuātea, PhirminTe Oroi, and Papa Marehau and Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tawio before the big Unification gathering in 2028.
Building a waka
7. Te Matawhaorua A Kupe-Ariki; Building a Waka Haurua for Hokianga and Ra'iatea. To work with whānau in Hokianga to have the waka haurua to be completed by 2028 for Te Whakakōtahitanga o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, The Unification Of Our Universe. We are going to donate two kauri logs 22 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width to Ra'iatea to build there waka haurua. Raiatea will take care of the transport of the wood to Raiatea.
Unification Of Our Living Multi-verse
8. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Moana Nui a Kiwa to help in the Unification of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa which starts December 2024, and is completed when all waka haurua sail to Ra'iatea in December 21st 2028 of which Te Matawhaorua A Kupe-ariki (Hokianga Waka Haurua) will be ready to sail and participate to meet in the gathering of all Waka Haurua of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa at Ra'iatea and Taputapuātea. This is where all the Waka haurua o Te Ao Marama will be called home to Raiatea.
Sovereignty and Independence
9. To lean upon these projects between Hokianga and Ra'iatea - Taputapuātea to make manifest, action and achieve Tino Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake, Independence.
December 5, 2024
Te Papara (Whakapapa, tātai heke, heke tika) Tūpuna mai I a Io kia Tangaroa nui tahi tumu, Tamatoa Ariki, Turi, Te Ariki Te Pou Aniwaniwa, kia Whitirangimamao me Whiro Tupua, heke mai kia Kupe, Ngātoroirangi, Tinirau, Rātā me Toi. He whakapapa Tātai Arorangi, he whakapapa Whare Wānanga o Te Atuatanga.
Ngā kaupapa matua - Ngā Uri O Hokianga and Ngā Uri O Kupe-Ariki would like to work together with Ra'iatea and Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa We have left all the descent lines here so no one is missed out. However, we are only representing Ngā Uri O Hokianga me Ngā Uri O Kupe-Ariki.
Ngā Waka;
Matawhaorua - Kupe-ariki
Ngātokimatawhaorua - Nukutāwhiti
Mamari - Rūanui ā Tāneroroa
Tāwhirirangi - Ngāhue/Ngake
Nukutāwhiti - Tuputupuwhenua
Puhi Taniwharau - Ngāpuhi
Te Whatupungapunga -
Te Arawa - Ngātoroirangi
Tainui - Hoturoa
Aotea - Turi and many others
Nukutaimemeha - Maui Pōtiki
Anei Ngā Uri (The Descendants)
Te Uri O Māui Tikitii a Taranga
Te Uri O Whiro/Hiro
Te Uri o Tamatoa-ariki
Te Uri O Turi Ariki
Te Uri O Kupe Ariki
Te Uri O Nukutawhiti
Te Uri O Ruānui (mokopuna a Turi)
Te Uri O Ngātoroirangi
Te Uri O Toi Te Huatahi
Te Uri O Tinirau (Heke mai kia Auaukiterangi mā)
Te Uri O Rātā
Te Uri O Tūpāia
Anei Ngā Kaupapa (The Projects) between Hokianga and Raiatea, Taputapuātea
Mokopuna n Uri
1. To create a authentic connection, and opportunity for all our mokopuna and descendants to have a humble and enduring relationship with Hokianga and Raiatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa, Raiatea, Tumaraa, Uturoa and Hokianga.
Hakapapa, Tātai heke, Heke tika
2. Te Whare Tātai Arorangi: The Celestial Geneological Lines of connection be maintained always between Hokianga, Raiatea,Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa, added to and updated where needed. So we have a tangible celestial record of our hakapapa, tātai heke, tātai tika. (Geneology). That we have a living record of the geneology that binds us together.
International School Of Celestial Navigation
3. Te Whare Kokorangi ā Kupe-ariki: The International Celestial School of Navigation (from Hokianga) will work together with Raiatea, and Taputapuatea, Tumaraa and Uturoa to rebuild with Te Whare Kokorangi the International School of Celestial Navigation at Raiatea for all Te Moana Nui a Kiwa. We also graduated our first Tohunga Tātai Arorangi who has been able to commit 1000 names to memory from the beginning of time to Kupe down to all of the Bloodlines of Raiatea and Hokianga which hasn't been recited for over 2000 years.
A School Of Tohunga or Tahua Development
4. Te Whatupungapunga A Nukutawhiti : School of Tohunga and Tahua Development to work together with Raiatea to rebuild The Whare Tahua - School Of Tahua Development in Ra'iatea, and Taputapuātea. Each student will pay for their trip whether they come from Raiatea or Hokianga, accommodation, food and training will be the responsibility of the host.
The bones of Kupe Nuku in Hokianga
5. Ngā Kōiwi a Kupe ki Hokianga: The return of the bones of Kupe to Hokianga with the Support of Plima Orotai, Te Marae Vaiahu, Maupiti and Paeao. This is completed.
The bones of Kupe in Raiatea
6. Ngā Kōiwi a Kupe ki Ra'iatea; Repatriation of the bones of Kupe-ariki to Ra'iatea, Vaeara'i. To work together with all the Mayor of Taputapuātea, PhirminTe Oroi, and Papa Marehau and Tangaroa Ngaropo-Tawio before the big Unification gathering in 2028.
Building a waka
7. Te Matawhaorua A Kupe-Ariki; Building a Waka Haurua for Hokianga and Ra'iatea. To work with whānau in Hokianga to have the waka haurua to be completed by 2028 for Te Whakakōtahitanga o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, The Unification Of Our Universe. We are going to donate two kauri logs 22 meters in length and 2.5 meters in width to Ra'iatea to build there waka haurua. Raiatea will take care of the transport of the wood to Raiatea.
Unification Of Our Living Multi-verse
8. Te Whakakōtahitanga O Te Moana Nui a Kiwa to help in the Unification of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa which starts December 2024, and is completed when all waka haurua sail to Ra'iatea in December 21st 2028 of which Te Matawhaorua A Kupe-ariki (Hokianga Waka Haurua) will be ready to sail and participate to meet in the gathering of all Waka Haurua of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa at Ra'iatea and Taputapuātea. This is where all the Waka haurua o Te Ao Marama will be called home to Raiatea.
Sovereignty and Independence
9. To lean upon these projects between Hokianga and Ra'iatea - Taputapuātea to make manifest, action and achieve Tino Rangatiratanga and Mana Motuhake, Independence.
Shared by Pouroto Ngaropo
December 4, 2021
The history of Ngāti Kahu and the tribes of Muriwhenua.
Ko Maunga Taniwha te Maunga
Ko Mamaru te Waka
Ko Parata te Rangatira
Ko Kahutianui te Whaea
Ko Tokerau te Moana
Ko Ngati Kahu te Iwi
Kahutianui is the tūpuna that gives her name to the hapū and iwi of Ngāti Kahu. Kahutianui is the daughter of Tūmoana and Kahukura-ariki. Tūmoana was the rangatira of the Tinana waka. His mokopuna, Te Pārata, is reputed to have refashioned the Tinana at Rangiātea [Ra’iātea] after Tūmoana had returned there from Tauroa, Aotearoa. After the refashioning, the Tinana was renamed Māmaru and guided by Te Pārata back to Aotearoa. It said that Pārata had returned with tohunga.
The Māmaru landed at Rangiāwhia and was beached at Taiapā. This name refers to the ‘Taiapā’ that surrounded the kāinga known today as the Taipā Point.
On the arrival of the Māmaru, Pārata married Tūmoana’s daughter Kahutianui. The descendants and people of the Māmaru are spread out through the Ōruru Valley right to the base of Maunga Taniwha and along the coast to Tākou and said to head west to Whangapē.
For various reasons, these people moved mainly south and unlike other iwi and tūpuna they were not a static and inbreeding community. At the end of Taipā beach towards Otengi, it is said that the waka Māmaru was buried.
It is said that the name of Ngāti Kahu prior to the naming of Te Pātu was Ngāi Tamatea. This hapū derives its name from Tamatea-iti, the brother of Kahutianui.
Ngāi Tamatea fell at the hands of Ngāti Tama at Kohukohu, however, the Ngāi Tamatea line still exists today through Waipuiarangi’s marriage to Moroki from the Kahutianui line.The Waitangi Tribunal Mangonui Sewerage Report (1988: 13 – 15) describes how Taipā was the center of the Ngāti Kahu:
“When the Māori settlers arrived on Māmaru canoe, possibly 700 years ago, they settled at Taipā, and the original dwelling place at Otengi headland is sacred to this day. The people’s main pā was built there. The main shellfish beds were nearby too.”
“Two logs carried from the homeland to beach the canoe was then planted there. Two tawapou trees are there to this day. From cuttings, others have been established on the lands of related tribes. At Taipā an abundance of fish was found, and shellfish of great variety—toheroa, tipā (scallops), kokota (pipi), huai (cockles), karahu (periwinkles), kutai (mussels), tio (oysters), kina, pupu and koramarama (rock periwinkles), pāua, pātiotio (limpets), ngakihikihi (small mussels) and kotoremoana (shell-less pāua).”
“Fresh water was available by digging holes in the Taipā sands, a practice that continued to modern times. Otengi headland a defensive pā was built named Mamangi, after the daughter of Pārata and Kahutianui.
Pārata and Kahutianui lived alternately at three important headlands of the Bay, at Karikari to the north, Otengi at the center, and at Taemaro on the east.”
“Otengi at Taipā was the main base, where there were direct lines of sight to the other headlands and to promontories inland. As the descendants settled the whole of the Tokerau (Doubtless Bay) lands, signal fires were used to maintain contact between them.”
In the course of time, the people multiplied and grew, supplemented from marriages with other Māori from the many other canoes that came. Originally there were three hapū or clans on the Māmaru canoe, Te Rorohuri, Pātu Koraha, and Te Whānau Moana. These names have always been maintained but in later years numerous sub-tribal groups adopted additional tribal names that came to apply to different localities.
For convenience, we refer to the sub-tribes collectively as Ngāti Kahu, although the name was not revived until the 1920s, and although for the greater period of the time described, different groups of the same people preferred their separate hapū names.
By the eighteenth century, the main settlements were broadly in three areas. At the eastern peninsula leading into the Mangonui Harbour and in the surrounding valley and hills, the central area inland from Taipā and nearby coastal places, and at the Karikari Peninsula on the northern extremity of the bay. Pā were built in all these places and villages were everywhere.
It is likely that at every coastal headland there was a pā, many were built inland on well-drained hills at strategic spots on communication lines and at places with ready access to the resources of the dense forests and the open seas. On carefully chosen sites extensive gardens were established.
[1] Reverend Māori Marsden. (ND).
[2] Waitangi Tribunal. (1988). Mangonui Sewerage Report: pp. 12. Wellington New Zealand. Government Print.
The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kahu take their name from their founding ancestress, Kahutianui, and link their ancestry back to the waka Māmaru. The captain of Māmaru was Te Parata who married Kahutianui.
Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū and Ngāti Kahu
Ngāti Kurī descend from Pōhurihanga, the captain of the Kurahaupō canoe, which landed at Takapaukura near North Cape. On landing, Pōhurihanga declared, ‘Te muri o te whenua’ (This is the end of the land) – hence the founding tribe’s name, Muriwhenua.
Pōhurihanga married Maieke, and their children settled Kapowairua, Pārengarenga Harbour, and Murimotu. A daughter, Muriwhenua, moved to Karikari where she married Rongokako of the Tākitimu canoe.
A traditional account explains why this tribe was named Kurī, which means ‘dog’. Many generations ago these people besieged a strongly fortified pā. Unable to take the pā by direct assault, they constructed a whale from dog skin and hid beneath it on the beach in front of the pā. Their enemies, lured out by the sight of the ‘whale’ and its promise of bone, blubber and meat, were surprised and heavily defeated. Traditions variously place this event at Maunga Piko in Kapowairua Bay, Whangatauatea near Ahipara, or at Waitaha, between Herekino and Whāngāpē.
A different account tells of a feast of dogs on Motu Whāngaikurī Island in Pārengarenga Harbour, for the funeral of the chief Ihutara.
Ngāi Takoto and Te Pātū
The tribes Ngāi Takoto and Te Pātū also trace descent from the Kurahaupō canoe. Pōhurihanga's descendant Tūwhakatere married two women. With the first, Tūterangi-a-tōhia, he had Pōpota, who became an important ancestor of Te Pātū. With Tūpōia, the second, he had a son, Hoka.
In an account of how Ngāi Takoto got their name, it is said that when Hoka was killed in battle, Tūwhakatere was so overcome with grief that he lay down and eventually died; ‘takoto’ means to lie down.
Ngāti Kahu
The tribe takes its name from Kahutianui-o-te-rangi, the daughter of Tūmoana. Tūmoana was captain of the Tinana canoe. He returned to Hawaiki where his nephew Te Parata renamed the canoe Māmaru.
The Māmaru returned to Muriwhenua territory, first sighting land at Pūwheke mountain. Te Parata married Kahutianui-o-te-rangi, and their descendants settled the Rangaunu and Tokerau harbours. They spread south to Whangaroa Harbour, Matauri Bay and Te Tī, where they intermarried with the descendants of Puhi, the captain of the Mataatua canoe.
The Tākitimu canoe, captained by Tamatea, landed at Awanui in Rangaunu Harbour. (This connection was once very important; Ngāti Kahu were sometimes known as Ngāi Tamatea.) Other canoes significant to Ngāti Kahu include:
Riukakara, captained by Pāoa, which landed at Mangōnui
Waipapa, captained by Kaiwhetū and Wairere, which landed on the Karikari Peninsula
Ruakaramea, captained by Moehuri and Tukiata (another version says Te Uriparāoa and Te Papawi were the captains).
Ngāti Kahu were well known as coastal raiders and traders as far south as the Waipoua Forest, Whāngārei, Mahurangi and beyond.
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa descend from several canoes, including:
Matawhaorua, captained by Kupe
Kurahaupō, captained by Pōhurihanga
Ngātokimatawhaorua, captained by Nukutawhiti
Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi, captained by Rongomai and Whakatau.
The main canoe for Te Aupōuri is Māmari, captained by Ruanui, whose descendants dominated much of the west coast of the Tai Tokerau.
Te Rarawa emphasise descent from the Tinana canoe, captained by Tūmoana. Tūmoana's descendants spread throughout the northern Hokianga and eastward to Maunga Taniwha. Tūmoana later returned to Hawaiki, leaving his son Tamahotu and daughter Kahutianui-o-te-rangi at Tauroa.
Mirupōkai, an ancestor of both Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, is said to have circumnavigated the North Island in the Mataatua canoe.
Te Aupōuri
Te Aupōuri were originally known as Ngāti Ruānui. They were closely related to Te Rarawa, particularly through the marriage of Waimirirangi to Kairewa. Their daughter, Haere-ki-te-rā, was the ancestor of the Ngāti Ruānui chiefs, Whēru and Te Ikanui. Another daughter, Pare, along with her husband Te Rēinga and brother Tamatea, were important early leaders for the predecessors of Te Rarawa.
Ngāti Ruānui dominated the Whāngāpē and Herekino harbours. Over time they came into conflict with their relations Ngāti Te Rēinga, Ngāti Kairewa, Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Te Aewa. These four tribes were emerging as a strong unified group out of settlements at Motutī, Whakarapa and Motukauri on the northern shores of Hokianga Harbour.
The two groups fought several battles in the Whāngāpē and Herekino harbours, and at Ahipara and Hukatere along Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē. During one of these battles, Te Ikanui and Whēru were besieged in their pā at Pawarenga on the Whāngāpē Harbour. One night they burned their possessions in order to create a screen of smoke, and then escaped unseen across the harbour. From then on Ngāti Ruānui were known as Te Aupōuri, from ‘au’ (current) and ‘pōuri’ (smoke or ash).
Te Rarawa
The name Te Rarawa comes from an incident on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour. Te Ripo, a high-born woman, was killed by a war party from the Kaipara. An avenging party led by Ngāmotu pursued the warriors south to Kaipara Harbour. However, the fleeing party crossed the harbour to their pā at Okika. They performed incantations, making the waters of the harbour too rough to cross.
Frustrated, Ngāmotu’s people raided a cemetery on the shores of the harbour, removing the remains of a deceased priest. They burnt the remains and threw the ashes into the harbour to calm the waters. They also ate part of the body. Toko, an old woman who witnessed these events, exclaimed, ‘Kātahi anō te iwi kai rarawa!’ (Who would have heard of such cannibalism?), and ‘Te rarawakaiwhare!’ (The people consume all!). Te Rarawa then became the tribal name.
European contact.
Whina Cooper and Duncan MacIntyre
Matiu Rata and ‘Karanga rā’
The Treaty of Waitangi
On 28 April 1840, 61 Muriwhenua chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Kaitāia. Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson assured them that the treaty would control Pākehā settlers and protect Māori lands and interests. Nōpera Pana-kareao encapsulated Māori understanding of the treaty based on these promises, saying, ‘Ko te atarau o te whenua i riro i a te kuini, ko te tinana o te whenua i waiho ki ngā Māori’ (The shadow of the land will go to the Queen [of England], but the substance of the land will remain with us). One year later he reversed his opinion, saying that the substance of the land had gone to the Queen and that Māori retained only the shadow.
Land loss
Muriwhenua suffered under government policies on Māori land. The government’s investigations into European land purchase claims before the treaty resulted in the loss of about 60,000 hectares. Further government purchases resulted in the alienation of another 113,000 hectares by 1865. By 1890 the government had acquired another 31,000 hectares, so that the Muriwhenua tribes no longer held sufficient lands to maintain their traditional way of life. Some took up kauri gum digging, but it was a short-term boom. The Waitangi Tribunal conclude that ‘with nearly all their usable land gone, Muriwhenua Māori were reduced to penury, powerlessness, and, eventually, state dependence’.
Muriwhenua today
In 2013 there were over 40,000 Muriwhenua Māori in New Zealand. As a result of huge land losses and marginalisation of Māori society, combined with the migration of Māori to the cities since 1950, less than a third of Muriwhenua people (about 12,000) lived in the Northland region in 2013. Many lived outside the tribal area, with almost 18,000 descendants in the Auckland region.
Treaty issues
Muriwhenua people have played an important role in Treaty of Waitangi politics since the 1960s. Whina Cooper led the 1975 Māori land march from Te Hāpua to Parliament.
The tribes have also played a pivotal role in claims before the Waitangi Tribunal, lodging multiple claims since 1994. The Muriwhenua fishing report (1988) was instrumental in the 1992 settlement of Māori claims to offshore fisheries. The Muriwhenua land report (1997) documented the history of land loss and its impact on the tribe. Initially, Muriwhenua land claims were to be settled under the confederation of Te Rūnanga-ō-Muriwhenua. However, after several debates within the tribes, it was decided that each tribe would negotiate separately.
Treaty settlements
Each of the Muriwhenua tribes has negotiated a separate treaty settlement which provides for collective redress where there is shared interest in land and other assets. This collective redress includes 21,000 hectares of Crown forest land on the Aupouri peninsula, creation of Te Oneroa a Tōhē Board to manage Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē), establishment of Te Hiku Conservation Board to co-govern conservation land in the region, and rights of first refusal to Crown properties.
The Te Aupōuri Deed of Settlement, signed on 28 January 2012, included financial redress of about $21 million. Nineteen geographic names were altered, with dual Maori–English names for Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē/ Ninety Mile Beach), Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua, Piwhane/Spirits Bay, Wharekāpu/Paxton Point, Ōtaipango/Henderson Bay and Tohoraha/Mount Camel.
Ngāi Takoto ’s settlement, dated 27 October 2012, includes financial redress valued at $21 million. Some of this amount was used to purchase part of the Crown-owned Sweetwater Farm and other properties. Ten sites of significance were vested solely in Ngāi Takoto, and others jointly with other Muriwhenua tribes. Ngāi Takoto received a cultural redress fund of $2.4 million to help it undertake projects of cultural significance.
The total value of the Te Rarawa settlement, dated 28 October 2012, was about $34 million. Te Rarawa also received a cultural redress fund of $530,000 and made an agreement with the Department of Conservation for joint governance and management of the Warawara Forest Park public conservation lands.
Ngāti Kuri’s historic treaty claims were settled on 7 February 2014 at a value of about $25 million. This included purchase of the 3157-hectare Te Paki Station and other properties, and a cultural endowment fund of $2.23 million. Among the sites of significance vested in Ngāti Kuri were Te Rerenga Wairua and Kapowairua at the northernmost point of the country.
Facts and figures.
Iwi (tribal) identification
In the New Zealand censuses since 1991, residents of Māori descent were asked to indicate the tribe to which they were affiliated.
The figures below show the number who indicated Muriwhenua tribes (including those who indicated more than one tribe), and the regions where they were found in the greatest numbers in 2013.
Ngāi Takoto
1991 census: 186
2001 census: 489
2006 census: 774
2013 census: 1,113
Major regional locations
Northland: 495
Auckland: 369
Ngāti Kahu
1991 census: 4,275
2001 census: 6,957
2006 census: 8,313
2013 census: 8,580
Major regional locations
Auckland: 3,747
Northland: 2,733
Ngāti Kurī
1991 census: 1,395
2001 census: 4,647
2006 census: 5,757
2013 census: 6,492
Major regional locations
Auckland: 2,781
Northland: 2,040
Te Aupōuri
1991 census: 6,720
2001 census: 7,848
2006 census: 9,333
2013 census: 8,700
Major regional locations
Auckland: 3,828
Northland: 2,109
Te Rarawa
1991 census: 5,919
2001 census: 11,526
2006 census: 14,895
2013 census: 16,512
Major regional locations
Auckland: 7,224
Northland: 4,881
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa trace their descent from a number of canoes including Matawhaorua, Kurahaupō, Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi, Māmari and Tinana. Ngātokimatawhaorua was captained by Nukutawhiti. This replica Ngātokimatawhaorua canoe was constructed in 1940 to commemorate the centenary of the Treaty of Waitangi.
A tribe known as Ngāti Ruānui lived on Whāngāpē Harbour. One night, when under siege, they escaped from their pā at Pawarenga across the harbour by burning their possessions and creating smoke. From then on they were known as Te Aupōuri – from au (current) and pōuri (smoke).
This is the rock in Takapaukura (Tom Bowling Bay), near North Cape, to which Pōhurihanga, the captain of the Kurahaupō canoe, is said to have tied the canoe on its arrival. Ngāti Kurī trace their descent from Pōhurihanga.
There are several stories about the origin of Ngāti Kurī’s name (kurī means dog). One says that they lured some enemies out of a pā by making a ‘whale’ from dog-skin cloaks such as the one pictured here. Their enemy hoped to gain whalebone and meat; instead they met defeat.
Muriwhenua tribes have many traditions about the places named by the Polynesian navigator Kupe. His crew are said to have settled from Cape Rēinga to Pārengarenga Harbour.
The kūaka or godwit arrives from the north each spring and leaves in the autumn. Its important symbolism for the Muriwhenua tribes originates in an incident when the people, under Tūmatahina, escaped from the besieged pā of Murimotu. It is said they flew away like godwits. The chant ‘Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia’ recalls that legendary escape. Here are the words:
Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia,
Kia hemo te kākoakoa,
Kia herea mai i te kawau korokī.
Kia tātaki mai i roto i te pūkorokoro, whaikoro,
Te kūaka, he kūaka mārangaranga,
Tahi manu i tau ki te tāhuna, tau atu, tau atu, tau atu!
Scatter, scatter, sweep on, sweep on,
Let us not be plundered by our foe,
The rope has been stretched out and fastened, let us rejoice.
Moving along the rope,
The godwits have risen and flown,
One has landed, to the beach, the others follow!
Tōhē lived here at Kapowairua – so named because when Tōhē was about to set off to visit his daughter, he told his people that in the event of his death they should grasp (kapo) his spirit (wairua).
Ancestors
Muriwhenua lands
Cape Rēinga
‘Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia’
Places named by Tōhē
Kapowairua (Spirits Bay)
Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach)
Descendants of Te Houtaewa run down Ninety Mile Beach
Muriwhenua is the collective name given to six iwi (tribes): Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa.
Te Hiku-o-te-Ika: the tail of the fish
The Muriwhenua people occupy lands stretching northward from the Maungataniwha Ranges to Cape Rēinga. In legend, this land formed the tail of the fish that Māui hauled up from the depths of the ocean. Elders from Muriwhenua sometimes say that although the head of Māui’s fish is in Wellington, it can only go where the tail will allow!
Kupe’s discovery
Ngāti Kurī say that Kupe, the great navigator, discovered land when he thought he saw a whale; in fact it was Houhora mountain. Kupe’s crew settled from Cape Rēinga to Pārengarenga Harbour. Kupe named places from Te Ara Wairua (the spirits’ pathway) to Cape Rēinga.
In Ngāti Kahu tradition, Kupe settled the Karikari Peninsula, Tokerau Beach, Whangaroa Harbour and Matauri Bay. One account says that Te Aukānapanapa (the flashing current) guided Kupe to land beneath Whakarārā mountain in Matauri Bay. The people of Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa say that Kupe landed in Hokianga Harbour, and that on his return to Hawaiki he threw up tides to crash onto the west coast of Northland and Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach).
Tūmatahina
According to tradition, when the Muriwhenua people were held under siege and running out of food, the chief Tūmatahina told them to make dummy warriors out of bulrushes and place them around the palisades of their pā. He then instructed them to make a long flax rope, which was fixed to a rock on the mainland. When preparations were complete, Tūmatahina sent his people one at a time, hand-over-hand, along the rope, each stepping carefully in the footsteps of those before. Tūmatahina followed at the rear. He had especially large feet which concealed all the other footprints, leaving just his own in the sand. The enemy were fooled into thinking the tribe was still in the pā, and that only one person had left.
A Muriwhenua chant commemorates this incident:
Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia,
Kia hemo te kākoakoa,
Kia herea mai i te kawau korokī.
Kia tātaki mai i roto i te pūkorokoro, whaikoro,
Te kūaka, he kūaka mārangaranga,
Tahi manu i tau ki te tāhuna, tau atu, tau atu, tau atu!
Scatter, scatter, sweep on, sweep on,
Let us not be plundered by our foe,
The rope has been stretched out and fastened, let us rejoice.
Moving along the rope,
The godwits have risen and flown,
One has landed, to the beach, the others follow!
The godwit (kūaka) is a symbol for the Muriwhenua tribes. Godwits migrate from the northern hemisphere at the beginning of each spring and flock in the harbours of Muriwhenua territory. They leave together in autumn, just as Tūmatahina’s people had moved together when escaping from the besieged pā.
Reitū and Reipae
The sisters Reitū and Reipae are renowned in Māori tradition. Ueoneone, a chief from Whāngāpē, travelled to the Waikato, where he fell in love with the sisters. He proposed marriage and they accepted.
Ueoneone sent a bird to the Waikato to carry the sisters northward. However, when the bird landed near present-day Whāngārei, Reipae fell in love with a chief named Ōtāhuhupōtiki, and married him. Te Whanga-a-Reipae (the harbour of Reipae) is one meaning of the name Whāngārei.
Reitū carried on alone and married Ueoneone at Whāngāpē. Kauae and Tawakeiti, their twin daughters, married Tūpoto, from whom every tribe north of Auckland can trace descent.
Tōhē
Tōhē, a chief of the Ngāti Kahu people, is one of Muriwhenua’s most important ancestors. He lived at Maunga Piko in Kapowairua Bay, far from his only daughter Rāninikura, who had married a man from the Kaipara near Dargaville. When Tōhē was very old he announced his intention to journey south to see his daughter one last time. His people, concerned about his health, asked him not to go. Tōhē replied:
Whakarua i te hau, e taea te karo.
Whakarua i taku tamāhine, e kore e taea te karo.
Taea Hokianga, ā hea, ā hea.
Ko tā koutou mahi e kapo ake ai, ko taku wairua.
I can shelter from the wind.
But I cannot shelter from the longing for my daughter.
I shall venture as far as Hokianga, and beyond.
Your task (should I die) shall be to grasp my spirit.
The Māori name for Spirits Bay, Kapowairua, comes from this saying. Tōhē made his way south, naming over 100 places along the western coast, but he died at Whāngaiariki near Maunganui Bluff, before reaching his daughter’s home. The Tōhē place names stand as a memorial to this sad journey. The most well-known is Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (the long beach of Tōhē), also called Ninety Mile Beach.
Cape Rēinga
Also known as Te Rerenga Wairua or Te Rēinga, this cape is one of the most sacred Māori places in New Zealand. Tradition says that the spirits of the dead travel along two pathways to Cape Rēinga, at the northernmost tip of the country. One path begins in the south and runs along Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach), and the other starts at Kapowairua (Spirits Bay). The spirits congregate at Cape Rēinga before leaping into the water; they surface after crossing the ocean to Manawatāwhi (Three Kings Islands). There they sing a last lament for the loved ones they have left behind before proceeding to their spiritual home in Hawaiki.
Te Houtaewa
Te Houtaewa was a descendant of the Te Aupōuri chief Te Ikanui, and a famous athlete. He played an important role in defining the boundary between Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri at Hukatere. On one occasion he ran the length of the beach from Te Kao to Ahipara, where he took two huge baskets of sweet potatoes from Te Rarawa. Locals chased him, but Te Houtaewa was such a good athlete he easily outran them, despite his load.
Later Te Houtaewa led Te Aupōuri in a more serious battle at Hukatere. They fought against Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa, who were led by Hongi Hika and Pōroa. During this battle Ngāruhe, the last surviving son of the Te Aupōuri chief Whēru, allowed himself to be captured, tortured and killed so that his family and kin could escape. Te Houtaewa, who had been shot by Hongi Hika, was pursued, caught and killed at Pukenui near Houhora Harbour. Henceforth, Hukatere became the dividing line between Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri.
References.
External links and sources
More links and websites
Te Aupouri Māori Trust Board
Run by the Te Aupōuri Maori Trust Board, this includes information about Te Aupōuri history, training courses, the rural lending housing scheme, and the Muriwhenua treaty claim.
Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa
The Te Rarawa website includes a tribal history of Te Rarawa and an explanation of the activities of the administrative body, the rūnanga.
Report of the Waitangi Tribunal on the Muriwhenua Fishing Claim
On the Waitangi Tribunal website, this is the report of the tribunal on the Muriwhenua fishing claim, Wai 22, 1988.
More suggestions and sources
Cloher, Dorothy Urlich. The tribes of Muriwhenua. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002.
Keene, Florence. Tai Tokerau. Whāngārei: F. Keene, 1986.
Matiu, McCully. Te whānau moana. Auckland: Reed, 2003.
Norman, W. ‘The Muriwhenua claim.’ In Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi, edited by I. H. Kawharu, 180–210. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1989.
December 4, 2021
The history of Ngāti Kahu and the tribes of Muriwhenua.
Ko Maunga Taniwha te Maunga
Ko Mamaru te Waka
Ko Parata te Rangatira
Ko Kahutianui te Whaea
Ko Tokerau te Moana
Ko Ngati Kahu te Iwi
Kahutianui is the tūpuna that gives her name to the hapū and iwi of Ngāti Kahu. Kahutianui is the daughter of Tūmoana and Kahukura-ariki. Tūmoana was the rangatira of the Tinana waka. His mokopuna, Te Pārata, is reputed to have refashioned the Tinana at Rangiātea [Ra’iātea] after Tūmoana had returned there from Tauroa, Aotearoa. After the refashioning, the Tinana was renamed Māmaru and guided by Te Pārata back to Aotearoa. It said that Pārata had returned with tohunga.
The Māmaru landed at Rangiāwhia and was beached at Taiapā. This name refers to the ‘Taiapā’ that surrounded the kāinga known today as the Taipā Point.
On the arrival of the Māmaru, Pārata married Tūmoana’s daughter Kahutianui. The descendants and people of the Māmaru are spread out through the Ōruru Valley right to the base of Maunga Taniwha and along the coast to Tākou and said to head west to Whangapē.
For various reasons, these people moved mainly south and unlike other iwi and tūpuna they were not a static and inbreeding community. At the end of Taipā beach towards Otengi, it is said that the waka Māmaru was buried.
It is said that the name of Ngāti Kahu prior to the naming of Te Pātu was Ngāi Tamatea. This hapū derives its name from Tamatea-iti, the brother of Kahutianui.
Ngāi Tamatea fell at the hands of Ngāti Tama at Kohukohu, however, the Ngāi Tamatea line still exists today through Waipuiarangi’s marriage to Moroki from the Kahutianui line.The Waitangi Tribunal Mangonui Sewerage Report (1988: 13 – 15) describes how Taipā was the center of the Ngāti Kahu:
“When the Māori settlers arrived on Māmaru canoe, possibly 700 years ago, they settled at Taipā, and the original dwelling place at Otengi headland is sacred to this day. The people’s main pā was built there. The main shellfish beds were nearby too.”
“Two logs carried from the homeland to beach the canoe was then planted there. Two tawapou trees are there to this day. From cuttings, others have been established on the lands of related tribes. At Taipā an abundance of fish was found, and shellfish of great variety—toheroa, tipā (scallops), kokota (pipi), huai (cockles), karahu (periwinkles), kutai (mussels), tio (oysters), kina, pupu and koramarama (rock periwinkles), pāua, pātiotio (limpets), ngakihikihi (small mussels) and kotoremoana (shell-less pāua).”
“Fresh water was available by digging holes in the Taipā sands, a practice that continued to modern times. Otengi headland a defensive pā was built named Mamangi, after the daughter of Pārata and Kahutianui.
Pārata and Kahutianui lived alternately at three important headlands of the Bay, at Karikari to the north, Otengi at the center, and at Taemaro on the east.”
“Otengi at Taipā was the main base, where there were direct lines of sight to the other headlands and to promontories inland. As the descendants settled the whole of the Tokerau (Doubtless Bay) lands, signal fires were used to maintain contact between them.”
In the course of time, the people multiplied and grew, supplemented from marriages with other Māori from the many other canoes that came. Originally there were three hapū or clans on the Māmaru canoe, Te Rorohuri, Pātu Koraha, and Te Whānau Moana. These names have always been maintained but in later years numerous sub-tribal groups adopted additional tribal names that came to apply to different localities.
For convenience, we refer to the sub-tribes collectively as Ngāti Kahu, although the name was not revived until the 1920s, and although for the greater period of the time described, different groups of the same people preferred their separate hapū names.
By the eighteenth century, the main settlements were broadly in three areas. At the eastern peninsula leading into the Mangonui Harbour and in the surrounding valley and hills, the central area inland from Taipā and nearby coastal places, and at the Karikari Peninsula on the northern extremity of the bay. Pā were built in all these places and villages were everywhere.
It is likely that at every coastal headland there was a pā, many were built inland on well-drained hills at strategic spots on communication lines and at places with ready access to the resources of the dense forests and the open seas. On carefully chosen sites extensive gardens were established.
[1] Reverend Māori Marsden. (ND).
[2] Waitangi Tribunal. (1988). Mangonui Sewerage Report: pp. 12. Wellington New Zealand. Government Print.
The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kahu take their name from their founding ancestress, Kahutianui, and link their ancestry back to the waka Māmaru. The captain of Māmaru was Te Parata who married Kahutianui.
Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū and Ngāti Kahu
Ngāti Kurī descend from Pōhurihanga, the captain of the Kurahaupō canoe, which landed at Takapaukura near North Cape. On landing, Pōhurihanga declared, ‘Te muri o te whenua’ (This is the end of the land) – hence the founding tribe’s name, Muriwhenua.
Pōhurihanga married Maieke, and their children settled Kapowairua, Pārengarenga Harbour, and Murimotu. A daughter, Muriwhenua, moved to Karikari where she married Rongokako of the Tākitimu canoe.
A traditional account explains why this tribe was named Kurī, which means ‘dog’. Many generations ago these people besieged a strongly fortified pā. Unable to take the pā by direct assault, they constructed a whale from dog skin and hid beneath it on the beach in front of the pā. Their enemies, lured out by the sight of the ‘whale’ and its promise of bone, blubber and meat, were surprised and heavily defeated. Traditions variously place this event at Maunga Piko in Kapowairua Bay, Whangatauatea near Ahipara, or at Waitaha, between Herekino and Whāngāpē.
A different account tells of a feast of dogs on Motu Whāngaikurī Island in Pārengarenga Harbour, for the funeral of the chief Ihutara.
Ngāi Takoto and Te Pātū
The tribes Ngāi Takoto and Te Pātū also trace descent from the Kurahaupō canoe. Pōhurihanga's descendant Tūwhakatere married two women. With the first, Tūterangi-a-tōhia, he had Pōpota, who became an important ancestor of Te Pātū. With Tūpōia, the second, he had a son, Hoka.
In an account of how Ngāi Takoto got their name, it is said that when Hoka was killed in battle, Tūwhakatere was so overcome with grief that he lay down and eventually died; ‘takoto’ means to lie down.
Ngāti Kahu
The tribe takes its name from Kahutianui-o-te-rangi, the daughter of Tūmoana. Tūmoana was captain of the Tinana canoe. He returned to Hawaiki where his nephew Te Parata renamed the canoe Māmaru.
The Māmaru returned to Muriwhenua territory, first sighting land at Pūwheke mountain. Te Parata married Kahutianui-o-te-rangi, and their descendants settled the Rangaunu and Tokerau harbours. They spread south to Whangaroa Harbour, Matauri Bay and Te Tī, where they intermarried with the descendants of Puhi, the captain of the Mataatua canoe.
The Tākitimu canoe, captained by Tamatea, landed at Awanui in Rangaunu Harbour. (This connection was once very important; Ngāti Kahu were sometimes known as Ngāi Tamatea.) Other canoes significant to Ngāti Kahu include:
Riukakara, captained by Pāoa, which landed at Mangōnui
Waipapa, captained by Kaiwhetū and Wairere, which landed on the Karikari Peninsula
Ruakaramea, captained by Moehuri and Tukiata (another version says Te Uriparāoa and Te Papawi were the captains).
Ngāti Kahu were well known as coastal raiders and traders as far south as the Waipoua Forest, Whāngārei, Mahurangi and beyond.
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa descend from several canoes, including:
Matawhaorua, captained by Kupe
Kurahaupō, captained by Pōhurihanga
Ngātokimatawhaorua, captained by Nukutawhiti
Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi, captained by Rongomai and Whakatau.
The main canoe for Te Aupōuri is Māmari, captained by Ruanui, whose descendants dominated much of the west coast of the Tai Tokerau.
Te Rarawa emphasise descent from the Tinana canoe, captained by Tūmoana. Tūmoana's descendants spread throughout the northern Hokianga and eastward to Maunga Taniwha. Tūmoana later returned to Hawaiki, leaving his son Tamahotu and daughter Kahutianui-o-te-rangi at Tauroa.
Mirupōkai, an ancestor of both Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, is said to have circumnavigated the North Island in the Mataatua canoe.
Te Aupōuri
Te Aupōuri were originally known as Ngāti Ruānui. They were closely related to Te Rarawa, particularly through the marriage of Waimirirangi to Kairewa. Their daughter, Haere-ki-te-rā, was the ancestor of the Ngāti Ruānui chiefs, Whēru and Te Ikanui. Another daughter, Pare, along with her husband Te Rēinga and brother Tamatea, were important early leaders for the predecessors of Te Rarawa.
Ngāti Ruānui dominated the Whāngāpē and Herekino harbours. Over time they came into conflict with their relations Ngāti Te Rēinga, Ngāti Kairewa, Ngāti Manawa and Ngāti Te Aewa. These four tribes were emerging as a strong unified group out of settlements at Motutī, Whakarapa and Motukauri on the northern shores of Hokianga Harbour.
The two groups fought several battles in the Whāngāpē and Herekino harbours, and at Ahipara and Hukatere along Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē. During one of these battles, Te Ikanui and Whēru were besieged in their pā at Pawarenga on the Whāngāpē Harbour. One night they burned their possessions in order to create a screen of smoke, and then escaped unseen across the harbour. From then on Ngāti Ruānui were known as Te Aupōuri, from ‘au’ (current) and ‘pōuri’ (smoke or ash).
Te Rarawa
The name Te Rarawa comes from an incident on the shores of the Kaipara Harbour. Te Ripo, a high-born woman, was killed by a war party from the Kaipara. An avenging party led by Ngāmotu pursued the warriors south to Kaipara Harbour. However, the fleeing party crossed the harbour to their pā at Okika. They performed incantations, making the waters of the harbour too rough to cross.
Frustrated, Ngāmotu’s people raided a cemetery on the shores of the harbour, removing the remains of a deceased priest. They burnt the remains and threw the ashes into the harbour to calm the waters. They also ate part of the body. Toko, an old woman who witnessed these events, exclaimed, ‘Kātahi anō te iwi kai rarawa!’ (Who would have heard of such cannibalism?), and ‘Te rarawakaiwhare!’ (The people consume all!). Te Rarawa then became the tribal name.
European contact.
Whina Cooper and Duncan MacIntyre
Matiu Rata and ‘Karanga rā’
The Treaty of Waitangi
On 28 April 1840, 61 Muriwhenua chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi at Kaitāia. Lieutenant-Governor William Hobson assured them that the treaty would control Pākehā settlers and protect Māori lands and interests. Nōpera Pana-kareao encapsulated Māori understanding of the treaty based on these promises, saying, ‘Ko te atarau o te whenua i riro i a te kuini, ko te tinana o te whenua i waiho ki ngā Māori’ (The shadow of the land will go to the Queen [of England], but the substance of the land will remain with us). One year later he reversed his opinion, saying that the substance of the land had gone to the Queen and that Māori retained only the shadow.
Land loss
Muriwhenua suffered under government policies on Māori land. The government’s investigations into European land purchase claims before the treaty resulted in the loss of about 60,000 hectares. Further government purchases resulted in the alienation of another 113,000 hectares by 1865. By 1890 the government had acquired another 31,000 hectares, so that the Muriwhenua tribes no longer held sufficient lands to maintain their traditional way of life. Some took up kauri gum digging, but it was a short-term boom. The Waitangi Tribunal conclude that ‘with nearly all their usable land gone, Muriwhenua Māori were reduced to penury, powerlessness, and, eventually, state dependence’.
Muriwhenua today
In 2013 there were over 40,000 Muriwhenua Māori in New Zealand. As a result of huge land losses and marginalisation of Māori society, combined with the migration of Māori to the cities since 1950, less than a third of Muriwhenua people (about 12,000) lived in the Northland region in 2013. Many lived outside the tribal area, with almost 18,000 descendants in the Auckland region.
Treaty issues
Muriwhenua people have played an important role in Treaty of Waitangi politics since the 1960s. Whina Cooper led the 1975 Māori land march from Te Hāpua to Parliament.
The tribes have also played a pivotal role in claims before the Waitangi Tribunal, lodging multiple claims since 1994. The Muriwhenua fishing report (1988) was instrumental in the 1992 settlement of Māori claims to offshore fisheries. The Muriwhenua land report (1997) documented the history of land loss and its impact on the tribe. Initially, Muriwhenua land claims were to be settled under the confederation of Te Rūnanga-ō-Muriwhenua. However, after several debates within the tribes, it was decided that each tribe would negotiate separately.
Treaty settlements
Each of the Muriwhenua tribes has negotiated a separate treaty settlement which provides for collective redress where there is shared interest in land and other assets. This collective redress includes 21,000 hectares of Crown forest land on the Aupouri peninsula, creation of Te Oneroa a Tōhē Board to manage Ninety Mile Beach (Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē), establishment of Te Hiku Conservation Board to co-govern conservation land in the region, and rights of first refusal to Crown properties.
The Te Aupōuri Deed of Settlement, signed on 28 January 2012, included financial redress of about $21 million. Nineteen geographic names were altered, with dual Maori–English names for Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē/ Ninety Mile Beach), Cape Reinga/Te Rerenga Wairua, Piwhane/Spirits Bay, Wharekāpu/Paxton Point, Ōtaipango/Henderson Bay and Tohoraha/Mount Camel.
Ngāi Takoto ’s settlement, dated 27 October 2012, includes financial redress valued at $21 million. Some of this amount was used to purchase part of the Crown-owned Sweetwater Farm and other properties. Ten sites of significance were vested solely in Ngāi Takoto, and others jointly with other Muriwhenua tribes. Ngāi Takoto received a cultural redress fund of $2.4 million to help it undertake projects of cultural significance.
The total value of the Te Rarawa settlement, dated 28 October 2012, was about $34 million. Te Rarawa also received a cultural redress fund of $530,000 and made an agreement with the Department of Conservation for joint governance and management of the Warawara Forest Park public conservation lands.
Ngāti Kuri’s historic treaty claims were settled on 7 February 2014 at a value of about $25 million. This included purchase of the 3157-hectare Te Paki Station and other properties, and a cultural endowment fund of $2.23 million. Among the sites of significance vested in Ngāti Kuri were Te Rerenga Wairua and Kapowairua at the northernmost point of the country.
Facts and figures.
Iwi (tribal) identification
In the New Zealand censuses since 1991, residents of Māori descent were asked to indicate the tribe to which they were affiliated.
The figures below show the number who indicated Muriwhenua tribes (including those who indicated more than one tribe), and the regions where they were found in the greatest numbers in 2013.
Ngāi Takoto
1991 census: 186
2001 census: 489
2006 census: 774
2013 census: 1,113
Major regional locations
Northland: 495
Auckland: 369
Ngāti Kahu
1991 census: 4,275
2001 census: 6,957
2006 census: 8,313
2013 census: 8,580
Major regional locations
Auckland: 3,747
Northland: 2,733
Ngāti Kurī
1991 census: 1,395
2001 census: 4,647
2006 census: 5,757
2013 census: 6,492
Major regional locations
Auckland: 2,781
Northland: 2,040
Te Aupōuri
1991 census: 6,720
2001 census: 7,848
2006 census: 9,333
2013 census: 8,700
Major regional locations
Auckland: 3,828
Northland: 2,109
Te Rarawa
1991 census: 5,919
2001 census: 11,526
2006 census: 14,895
2013 census: 16,512
Major regional locations
Auckland: 7,224
Northland: 4,881
Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa trace their descent from a number of canoes including Matawhaorua, Kurahaupō, Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi, Māmari and Tinana. Ngātokimatawhaorua was captained by Nukutawhiti. This replica Ngātokimatawhaorua canoe was constructed in 1940 to commemorate the centenary of the Treaty of Waitangi.
A tribe known as Ngāti Ruānui lived on Whāngāpē Harbour. One night, when under siege, they escaped from their pā at Pawarenga across the harbour by burning their possessions and creating smoke. From then on they were known as Te Aupōuri – from au (current) and pōuri (smoke).
This is the rock in Takapaukura (Tom Bowling Bay), near North Cape, to which Pōhurihanga, the captain of the Kurahaupō canoe, is said to have tied the canoe on its arrival. Ngāti Kurī trace their descent from Pōhurihanga.
There are several stories about the origin of Ngāti Kurī’s name (kurī means dog). One says that they lured some enemies out of a pā by making a ‘whale’ from dog-skin cloaks such as the one pictured here. Their enemy hoped to gain whalebone and meat; instead they met defeat.
Muriwhenua tribes have many traditions about the places named by the Polynesian navigator Kupe. His crew are said to have settled from Cape Rēinga to Pārengarenga Harbour.
The kūaka or godwit arrives from the north each spring and leaves in the autumn. Its important symbolism for the Muriwhenua tribes originates in an incident when the people, under Tūmatahina, escaped from the besieged pā of Murimotu. It is said they flew away like godwits. The chant ‘Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia’ recalls that legendary escape. Here are the words:
Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia,
Kia hemo te kākoakoa,
Kia herea mai i te kawau korokī.
Kia tātaki mai i roto i te pūkorokoro, whaikoro,
Te kūaka, he kūaka mārangaranga,
Tahi manu i tau ki te tāhuna, tau atu, tau atu, tau atu!
Scatter, scatter, sweep on, sweep on,
Let us not be plundered by our foe,
The rope has been stretched out and fastened, let us rejoice.
Moving along the rope,
The godwits have risen and flown,
One has landed, to the beach, the others follow!
Tōhē lived here at Kapowairua – so named because when Tōhē was about to set off to visit his daughter, he told his people that in the event of his death they should grasp (kapo) his spirit (wairua).
Ancestors
Muriwhenua lands
Cape Rēinga
‘Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia’
Places named by Tōhē
Kapowairua (Spirits Bay)
Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach)
Descendants of Te Houtaewa run down Ninety Mile Beach
Muriwhenua is the collective name given to six iwi (tribes): Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa.
Te Hiku-o-te-Ika: the tail of the fish
The Muriwhenua people occupy lands stretching northward from the Maungataniwha Ranges to Cape Rēinga. In legend, this land formed the tail of the fish that Māui hauled up from the depths of the ocean. Elders from Muriwhenua sometimes say that although the head of Māui’s fish is in Wellington, it can only go where the tail will allow!
Kupe’s discovery
Ngāti Kurī say that Kupe, the great navigator, discovered land when he thought he saw a whale; in fact it was Houhora mountain. Kupe’s crew settled from Cape Rēinga to Pārengarenga Harbour. Kupe named places from Te Ara Wairua (the spirits’ pathway) to Cape Rēinga.
In Ngāti Kahu tradition, Kupe settled the Karikari Peninsula, Tokerau Beach, Whangaroa Harbour and Matauri Bay. One account says that Te Aukānapanapa (the flashing current) guided Kupe to land beneath Whakarārā mountain in Matauri Bay. The people of Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa say that Kupe landed in Hokianga Harbour, and that on his return to Hawaiki he threw up tides to crash onto the west coast of Northland and Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach).
Tūmatahina
According to tradition, when the Muriwhenua people were held under siege and running out of food, the chief Tūmatahina told them to make dummy warriors out of bulrushes and place them around the palisades of their pā. He then instructed them to make a long flax rope, which was fixed to a rock on the mainland. When preparations were complete, Tūmatahina sent his people one at a time, hand-over-hand, along the rope, each stepping carefully in the footsteps of those before. Tūmatahina followed at the rear. He had especially large feet which concealed all the other footprints, leaving just his own in the sand. The enemy were fooled into thinking the tribe was still in the pā, and that only one person had left.
A Muriwhenua chant commemorates this incident:
Ruia, ruia, tahia, tahia,
Kia hemo te kākoakoa,
Kia herea mai i te kawau korokī.
Kia tātaki mai i roto i te pūkorokoro, whaikoro,
Te kūaka, he kūaka mārangaranga,
Tahi manu i tau ki te tāhuna, tau atu, tau atu, tau atu!
Scatter, scatter, sweep on, sweep on,
Let us not be plundered by our foe,
The rope has been stretched out and fastened, let us rejoice.
Moving along the rope,
The godwits have risen and flown,
One has landed, to the beach, the others follow!
The godwit (kūaka) is a symbol for the Muriwhenua tribes. Godwits migrate from the northern hemisphere at the beginning of each spring and flock in the harbours of Muriwhenua territory. They leave together in autumn, just as Tūmatahina’s people had moved together when escaping from the besieged pā.
Reitū and Reipae
The sisters Reitū and Reipae are renowned in Māori tradition. Ueoneone, a chief from Whāngāpē, travelled to the Waikato, where he fell in love with the sisters. He proposed marriage and they accepted.
Ueoneone sent a bird to the Waikato to carry the sisters northward. However, when the bird landed near present-day Whāngārei, Reipae fell in love with a chief named Ōtāhuhupōtiki, and married him. Te Whanga-a-Reipae (the harbour of Reipae) is one meaning of the name Whāngārei.
Reitū carried on alone and married Ueoneone at Whāngāpē. Kauae and Tawakeiti, their twin daughters, married Tūpoto, from whom every tribe north of Auckland can trace descent.
Tōhē
Tōhē, a chief of the Ngāti Kahu people, is one of Muriwhenua’s most important ancestors. He lived at Maunga Piko in Kapowairua Bay, far from his only daughter Rāninikura, who had married a man from the Kaipara near Dargaville. When Tōhē was very old he announced his intention to journey south to see his daughter one last time. His people, concerned about his health, asked him not to go. Tōhē replied:
Whakarua i te hau, e taea te karo.
Whakarua i taku tamāhine, e kore e taea te karo.
Taea Hokianga, ā hea, ā hea.
Ko tā koutou mahi e kapo ake ai, ko taku wairua.
I can shelter from the wind.
But I cannot shelter from the longing for my daughter.
I shall venture as far as Hokianga, and beyond.
Your task (should I die) shall be to grasp my spirit.
The Māori name for Spirits Bay, Kapowairua, comes from this saying. Tōhē made his way south, naming over 100 places along the western coast, but he died at Whāngaiariki near Maunganui Bluff, before reaching his daughter’s home. The Tōhē place names stand as a memorial to this sad journey. The most well-known is Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (the long beach of Tōhē), also called Ninety Mile Beach.
Cape Rēinga
Also known as Te Rerenga Wairua or Te Rēinga, this cape is one of the most sacred Māori places in New Zealand. Tradition says that the spirits of the dead travel along two pathways to Cape Rēinga, at the northernmost tip of the country. One path begins in the south and runs along Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach), and the other starts at Kapowairua (Spirits Bay). The spirits congregate at Cape Rēinga before leaping into the water; they surface after crossing the ocean to Manawatāwhi (Three Kings Islands). There they sing a last lament for the loved ones they have left behind before proceeding to their spiritual home in Hawaiki.
Te Houtaewa
Te Houtaewa was a descendant of the Te Aupōuri chief Te Ikanui, and a famous athlete. He played an important role in defining the boundary between Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri at Hukatere. On one occasion he ran the length of the beach from Te Kao to Ahipara, where he took two huge baskets of sweet potatoes from Te Rarawa. Locals chased him, but Te Houtaewa was such a good athlete he easily outran them, despite his load.
Later Te Houtaewa led Te Aupōuri in a more serious battle at Hukatere. They fought against Ngāpuhi and Te Rarawa, who were led by Hongi Hika and Pōroa. During this battle Ngāruhe, the last surviving son of the Te Aupōuri chief Whēru, allowed himself to be captured, tortured and killed so that his family and kin could escape. Te Houtaewa, who had been shot by Hongi Hika, was pursued, caught and killed at Pukenui near Houhora Harbour. Henceforth, Hukatere became the dividing line between Te Rarawa and Te Aupōuri.
References.
External links and sources
More links and websites
Te Aupouri Māori Trust Board
Run by the Te Aupōuri Maori Trust Board, this includes information about Te Aupōuri history, training courses, the rural lending housing scheme, and the Muriwhenua treaty claim.
Te Rūnanga o Te Rarawa
The Te Rarawa website includes a tribal history of Te Rarawa and an explanation of the activities of the administrative body, the rūnanga.
Report of the Waitangi Tribunal on the Muriwhenua Fishing Claim
On the Waitangi Tribunal website, this is the report of the tribunal on the Muriwhenua fishing claim, Wai 22, 1988.
More suggestions and sources
Cloher, Dorothy Urlich. The tribes of Muriwhenua. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2002.
Keene, Florence. Tai Tokerau. Whāngārei: F. Keene, 1986.
Matiu, McCully. Te whānau moana. Auckland: Reed, 2003.
Norman, W. ‘The Muriwhenua claim.’ In Waitangi: Maori and Pakeha perspectives of the Treaty of Waitangi, edited by I. H. Kawharu, 180–210. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1989.
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