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Ngāti Tuwharetoa

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Ngāti Tuwharetoa is an iwi (Māori tribe) descended from Ngātoro-i-rangi, the priest who navigated the Te Arawa canoe to New Zealand. The Tuwharetoa region extends from Te Awa o te Atua (Tarawera River) at Matata across the central plateau of the North Island to the lands around Mount Tongariro and Lake Taupo.

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The iwi is identified by the saying: Mai Maketu ki Tongariro, ko Tongariro te maunga, ko Taupo Nui-a-Tia te moana, ko Te Arawa te waka, ko Tuwharetoa te iwi, ko te Heuheu te tangata (From Maketu to Tongariro, Tongariro is the mountain, Taupo-nui-a-Tia is the lake, Te Arawa is the canoe, Tuwharetoa is the tribe, Te Heuheu is the man.)

Tuwharetoa is the sixth largest iwi in Aotearoa with a population of 30,000 (NZ Census 2001) comprised of a number of hapu (subtribes) represented by 33 marae. This collective is bound together by the legacy of Ngātoro-i-rangi as epitomised in the Ariki (Paramount Chief). 40% of Ngāti Tuwharetoa are under the age of 15.

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[edit] History

Ngāti Tuwharetoa are descendants of the powerful tohunga and navigator, Ngātoro-i-rangi who piloted the great waka Te Arawa from Hawaiki to Aotearoa.

On arrival in Aotearoa they made landfall at Te Awa o Te Atua, and Ngātoro-i-rangi departed heading inland to Te Takanga i o Apa (Kawerau area), thence to Ruawahia where he encountered the monstrous Tama o Hoi and eventually reaching Taupo district where he climbed Mount Tauhara.

From Tauhara Ngātoro-i-rangi made his way to Tongariro with the intention of standing on its summit and thus claiming the district as his own. While climbing the mountain a powerful southerly wind whipped his face, icy gales chiselled the warmth from his body while the frozen volcano cut painfully into his feet eventually bringing him to his knees with cold. As Ngātoro-i-rangi lay dying he called to his sisters Kuiwai and Haungaroa in Hawaikii, to send fire to warm him, "Kuiwai e! Haungaroa e! Ka riro au i te tonga! Tukuna mai he ahi! (Oh Kuiwai! Oh Haungaroa! I am seized by the cold south wind! Send fire to me!)

Heeding his call, they sent fire in the form of two daemons, Te Pupu and Te Hoata. As they travelled underground the flames first erupted at White Island, then Rotorua and Taupo, finally bursting at the feet of Ngātoro-i-rangi, welling up from the large vent in the volcano’s summit, warming the tohunga and thus allowing him to achieve his goal.

On the summit of Tongariro Ngātoro-i-rangi gave thanks and established his legacy 'Te Wharetoa o Tumatauenga' The Warrior House of Tu - the legacy of Tuwharetoa.

Ngātoro-i-rangi did not remain at Tongariro instead returning to the coast to live out his life at Motiti Island. His descendants settled at Te Awa o Te Atua inland to Kawerau increasing over the generations until the time of Mawake Taupo, 8th generation descendant of Ngātoro-i-rangi. Mawake Taupo took as wife a woman of the Hapuoneone named Hahuru and their son Manaia would eventually take the name Tuwharetoa.

[edit] Ngāti Tuwharetoa structure

The sons of Tuwharetoa moved from Kawerau across Waiariki and eventually into the district around Taupo and by skill at arms, strategy and might eventually established the rohe of Tuwharetoa settling in three divisions at Kawerau, Waiariki and Tongariro.

Mai Te Awa o Te Atua ki Tongariro, Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau, Tuwharetoa ki Waiariki, Tuwharetoa ki te Tonga (From Te Awa-o-te-Atua to Tongariro, Tuwharetoa at Kawerau, Tuwharetoa at Waiariki, Tuwharetoa at Tongariro)

This pepeha (tribal saying) describes the tribal boundaries of Ngāti Tuwharetoa extending from Te Awa o Te Atua (a confluence of rivers at Matata) south to Tongariro mountain.

[edit] Timeline of Paramount Chiefs[1]

[edit] External links

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