Tērā tonu pea, ko te tipuna tōmua rawa ake, rongonui rawa ake o ngā iwi o Te Tau Ihu, ko Kupe, te rangatira rongonui o te waka a Matahourua, i heke i Hawaiki. E ora ana a Kupe i te wā i a Turi, te rangatira o te waka a Aotea. Ka moe teina, tuakana te tokorua nei. Neke atu i te 40 ngā wāhi i ingoatia e Kupe ki te pito raki o te Wai Pounamu.
Kurahaupō
I te taenga mai o te waka a Kurahaupō i Hawaiki, i tōna taiāwhiotanga i te Wai Pounamu, ka tau ia ki ngā rohe o Whakatū, o Te Wairau. Ko Ruatea te rangatira o runga i te waka, hei hunaonga ia nā Te Oro, te rangatira o te moutere o Arapāoa; i kāhakina ia e Kupe ki Hawaiki i runga i te waka a Matahourua.
Arā anō ētahi tangata nui i runga i te waka a Kurahaupō. Ko te mokopuna a Toi, ko Whātonga te kaihautū i te tauihu o te waka. I te rapu ia i tōna koroua i ngaro atu i Hawaiki. I a Popoto, te mokopuna a Kupe, ngā whakahaere i te puku me te kei o te waka. Tokotoru ngā tāngata i makere i te waka i Te Taitapu. Ko rātou ngā tīpuna o Ngāti Kuia, te iwi kua roa nei e kā ō rātou ahi ki te rohe.
Te wā i muri i ngā heke
Nā ngā hononga ki ngā uri o Kupe rāua ko Toikairākau i hua ētahi atu iwi ki ngā rohe o Whakatū, o Te Wairau. Ka noho te iwi o Ngāti Wairangi o te rohe o Whanganui mō tētahi wā ki te taha uru o Mōhua (ki Te Taitapu) kātahi ka heke ki te Tai Poutini. Ko Ngāi Tara, Rangitāne, Ngāti Apa i whakawhiti ki te Wai Pounamu i te rau tau 1500 me te rau tau 1600. He uri anō rātou nō runga i te waka a Kurahaupō. Arā anō ngā wāhanga o te iwi o Rangitāne i heke ki te rohe o Te Wairau i raro i ngā rangatira a Te Huataki, a Whakamana, a Te Rerewa, a Tukanae mā i te takiwā o te rau tau 1500.
Te wā o te ririhau
I te rau tau 1500 ka whakatūria e Ngāti Apa ō rātou pā, ō ratou kāinga ki Te Wairau i raro i te mana o tō rātou rangatira a Tamahau. Nō te rau tau 1600 ka whakahipa a Ngāi Tahu i te rohe o Te Wairau. Ka noho rātou mō te whakatipuranga kotahi, engari i peia rātou e Ngāi Tara, e Rangitāne mā kia noho ki tua o te awa o Waiautoa. He maha tonu ngā pakanga rongonui i tū ki te rohe nei i taua wā.
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri
I te paunga o te rau tau 1500, ka wehe atu a Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri i te rohe o Taupō-nui-a-Tia ka heke ki te rohe o Whakatū, o Te Wairau. Nō te waka o Kurahaupō anō te iwi nei. Nāwai, ā, ka riro i te iwi nei te mana o te rohe, atu i Whangarae (Croisilles Harbour), kei te pito raki-mā-rāwhiti o Waimea (Tasman Bay), whakateuru ki Onetahua (Farewell Spit), rere whakatetonga ana mā te tuawhenua o te Tai o Poutini, tatū ai ki Māwhera (Greymouth). Nā rātou a Ngāti Wairangi i pana kia noho ki ngā rohe whakatetonga o Māwhera. Ko Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri te mana whakahaere o te rohe mō ngā tau e rua rau. Heoi, i hinga rātou i ngā pakanga ki a Ngāi Tahu o te tai hau-ā-uru, i a Ngāti Kuia rāua ko Rangitāne o te taha rāwhiti o Whakatū, o Te Wairau, i a Ngāti Apa me ā rātou haumi o Rangitīkei, o Kāpiti i te Ika-a-Māui.
Nō te tau 1810 ka patua ririkitia a Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri ki tētahi pakanga i te pae maunga o Paparoa. Nā ngā moenga ki ngā iwi o Ngāti Kuia, o Ngāi Tahu, i puritia tonutia ētahi o ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, engari kua tineia ngā ahi o taua iwi.
