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Ngāti Awa

by  Layne Harvey

Ko te pepeha a Ngāti Awa inā: ‘He manu hōu ahau he pī ka rere’.

Koianei te ōhākī a Te Mautaranui i mua i tōna patunga. E kōrero ana te ōhākī nei mō ngā tūmanako mō ngā rā kei te tū. I riro ngā whenua o Ngāti Awa i ngā pakanga me ngā raupatu whenua o te tekau tau atu i 1860. Heoi, kua huri te iwi ināianei ki ngā tuwheratanga tērā ka tū mai. Kua tū tētahi rūnanga kaitiaki mō te iwi, tētahi whare wānanga me tētahi reo irirangi; ko ēnei mea katoa e tohu ana kei te ahu whakamua te iwi i roto i tēnei ao hurihuri.


Origins

Hoki atu ai ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi e noho ana i Aotearoa i mua i te taenga mai o ngā tīpuna i heke mā runga i a Mataatua. He maha ngā takiwā kua nōhia e te iwi nei. I ēnei rā, kei te rāwhiti o Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi ngā kāinga o Ngāti Awa, arā, kei ngā takiwā o Whakatāne, o Te Teko, o Etikamu (Edgecumbe), o Matatā, o Kawerau.

Ngā tīpuna taketake

Ko ngā tīpuna tūturu o Ngāti Awa ko Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga rāua ko tōna uri a Te Papa-titi-rau-maewa. Nō muri i a rāua ko Tīwakawaka, te kaihōpara tuatahi kia noho ki ngā whenua o Kākahoroa (Whakatāne). Ko Te Aratauwhāiti tōna waka, ā, ka mōhiotia ōna uri ko Ngāti Ngainui, ko rātou te iwi tuatahi ki Whakatāne.

Tekau mā rua ngā whakapaparanga whai muri i a Tīwakawaka ka puta ko Toitehuatahi (Toi). I noho ia ki te pā o Kaputerangi, kei runga ake o te tāone o Whakatāne. Koia te tipuna taketake o te rahi o ngā iwi o Te Ika-a-Māui. Ko Rauru te mātāmua o ngā tamariki a Toi. Ko Huiarei tōna whāea. Ko Awanuiarangi I te tama tuarua a Toi, ko Te Kuraimonoa tōna whāea. Ko ngā uri o Awanuiarangi I ko Ngāti Awa ki Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, ko Ngāti Awa ki Te Tai Tokerau, ko Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki.

Mataatua

E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a Ngāti Awa, i tana hekenga mai i Hawaiki, i ū a Mataatua ki Whakatāne. Nā ngā tāngata o runga i a Mataatua te kūmara i mau ki Kākahoroa; ko tētahi atu mea i heria mai e rātou, ko tētahi kapunga oneone mai i Rangiātea, i waihotia ki Matirerau, tō ratou māra i Whakatāne.

Ko Toroa te rangatira o runga te waka a Mataatua, koia tētahi o ngā tipuna nui o Ngāti Awa. Nā Toroa ko Ruaihona, nāna ko Te Tahinga-o-te-rā, nā Te Tahinga-o-te-rā ko Awanuiarangi II, te tipuna nui o ngā hapū katoa o Ngāti Awa. Mai anō, he huānga a Ngāi Te Rangi rāua ko Ngāti Awa, e kaha tonu nei ngā hononga kei waenganui i a rāua i ēnei rā.


Early history

Te iwi i te tai tokerau

I ngā wā o mua e noho ana a Ngāti Awa ki te tai tokerau, ki ngā rohe o Kaitāia, o Ahipara me te roto o Tāngonge (kua whakatahea ōna wai ināianei). I taua takiwā ngā ana kōiwi o te iwi.

Nō te wā atu i te tau 1600, whai muri i ngā pakanga ki a Ngāti Whātua me Ngāpuhi, ka heke a Ngāti Awa ki te tonga. E rua ngā hekenga. Nā Tītahi tētahi wāhanga o te iwi i ārahi mā te tai hauāuru kia tae ki Waitara i Taranaki. I a rātou ka heke haere, ka whakatūtū pā a Tītahi ki Tāmaki-makau-rau, ko tētahi o aua pā i tū ki Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill). Ko tētahi atu heke nā Kauri i ārahi mā te tai rāwhiti kia tae ki Tauranga. Ko tētahi peka o tēnei heke ka haere tonu kia tae ki Whakatāne, ka hono atu ki Te-Tini-o-Awa. Kitea tonuhia ai ngā uri o Kauri rāua ko Tītahi kei ngā hapū o Ngāti Awa i ēnei rā.

Ahakoa i mahue i a rātou ngā rohe o te raki, kei te pakari tonu ngā hononga a Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi o te tai tokerau, arā, ki a Ngāi Takoto rātou ko Te Aupōuri, ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngāti Wai.

Te rohe o te iwi

E tohu ana te pepeha nei ki te whānui o te rohe o Ngāti Awa me ngā wāhi nui, inā:

Ngā mate i Kōhī me tangi mai i Kawerau;
Ngā mate i Kawerau me tangi atu i Kōhī.

Ko Muriwai te tuahine a Toroa, te rangatira o te waka a Mataatua. I te toremitanga o ana tamariki e rua, ka whakatakotoria e Muriwai tōna rāhui. Nā ngā iwi kei tēnā taha, kei tēnā taha o Whakatāne i whakawhānui ake i te rāhui kia toro ‘mai i ngā kurī a Whārei ki Tihirau’, me kī, mai i te takiwā o Katikati i te uru, ki Whangaparāoa kei te rāwhiti, koinei te rohe pōtae o ngā iwi o Mataatua.

He wā anō ka rongohia te mana o Ngāti Awa ki Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, mai i Pongakawa ki te uru, ki Ōhiwa kei te rāwhiti, toro whakauta ki Matahina, Maungawhakamana, Pokohu, kia huri taiāwhio anō ki Pongakawa. Ka iri te mana o Ngāti Awa ki ngā moutere o Mōtītī, o Rūrima, o Moutohorā me Whakaari.

Tū whakahirahira ana ngā maunga o te rohe o Ngāti Awa, a Te Rae ki Kōhī, a Te Tiringa, a Whakapau-kōrero, a Ōtipa me Pūtauaki. I ngā wā o mua ko ngā huarahi nui mō te iwi ko ngā repo me ngā awa e toru, a Tarawera, a Rangitāiki me Whakatāne. I noho anō ēnei wai hei wāhi whakamarumaru mō ngā hapū.

I roto i ngā rau tau, pakanga ai a Ngāti Awa mō tōna rohe whenua. Ka whawhai tonu a Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi noho tata, ahakoa te mea he rite ā rātou kōrero tuku iho, ko ō rātou tīpuna ērā ko ngā tīpuna o Ngāti Awa.


The 19th and 20th centuries

Te raupatu whenua

E kōrero ana te tipuna a Tamatearehe o Ngāti Awa mō tōna ake iwi i tana kōrero:

Kei runga te kōrero, kei raro te rahurahu.

Ko te tikanga o tēnei pepeha, ka kōrero te tangata i tētahi kōrero, engari ko ōna whakaaro kei wāhi kē. Ahakoa te hipa o te wā, ka whai tikanga taua kōrero i te taenga o te Pākehā.

I ngā tau pokapu o te rau tau 1800 i te pai katoa ngā whakawhitiwhitinga tuatahitanga ki waenganui i a Ngāti Awa me te Pākehā. Heoi, nā te hiahia o ngā tāngata whai i ngā whenua o te Māori me te tohe o te iwi ki te pupuri ki tō rātou rangatiratanga, taro ake ka tutū te puehu ki waenganui i a Ngāti Awa me te kāwanatanga. Nō te tau 1866, i runga i ngā whakapae mō te ‘whakakeke’ me te kōhuru o Hēmi Te Mautaranui (he kanohi mō te Karauna, nō Ngāti Awa me Ngāi Tūhoe), ka whakawhiua a Ngāti Awa me ngā iwi o Mataatua, ka raupatuhia ō rātou whenua. Nō te tau 1999 ka whakaae Te Rōpu Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi i tūkinotia te iwi, i murua āna me ōna whenua e 100,000 heketea te rahi.

Nā Hāmiora Tumutara Pio, tētahi rangatira, tohunga nō Ngāti Awa, ngā rongo kino o te raupatu whenua i whakamārama pēnei,:

Koia tēnei; ko te toroa noho au,
E tangi ana ki tōna kāinga, e mihi ana.

Ngā tāngata nui

Tokomaha ngā rangatira o Ngāti Awa i whakaputa ō ratou mana i te rau tau 1800. He rangatira, he tohunga whakairo a Apanui Te Hāmaiwaho. Nāna i ako tana tama a Wēpiha Apanui. Ka tū a Wēpiha hei rangatira nui o te iwi, ka whai wāhi nui ia ki ngā mahi whakahirahira o te iwi.

Ko Te Rangitūkehu Hātua te rangatira o Te Pahipoto, tētahi hapū nui o Ngāti Awa. Ka whānau, ka pakeke tana tamāhine a Maata Te Taiawatea hei puhi. Ka moe ia i a Te Hāroto Whakataka Riini Mānuera, te tama a tētahi rangatira o te Warahoe. Ka mate tōna matua, ka kawe e Maata āna mahi. He nui ngā wā i roto ia i Te Kōti Whenua Māori e tohe ana mō ngā take whenua o tōna iwi.

Ko Te Hura Te Taiwhakaripi te rangatira o Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri. I ōna rā, ko tēnei tētahi o ngā hapū tino kaha o Ngāti Awa. He ariki, he tumu kōrero, he tohunga a Hāmiora Tumutara Pio ki ngā tikanga a tōna iwi.

I ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1900, ko Te Hurinui Apanui te rangatira o te iwi; koia te mokopuna a Apanui Te Hāmaiwaho. I tōna matenga i te tau1924, ka ngaro te whare o Apanui.


Ngāti Awa today

I te tau 1899, ka puta te kōrero a Tā Āpirana Ngata mō Ngāti Awa:

‘He iwi mate a Ngāti Awa, nā runga i ngā whakawhiu o te ture, …. ka tangi ahau mō rātou e pēhia kinohia e te kāwanatanga’.

Te waihanga anō i te iwi

I ngā tau tōmuri o te rau tau 1900 ka tīmata ngā rangatira o Ngāti Awa ki te waihanga anō i te iwi; kāore he āwhina i puta ki a rātou. I rerekē a Ngāti Awa ki ētahi atu iwi, kāore ana poari kaitiaki, kāore he ara mō rātou e tarea ai te whātoro ki ngā rawa a te kāwanatanga. Hāunga, ka ngana tonu rātou kia puta he hua. Whāia, ka whakatūria he manatū mō te iwi, ko Te Poari o Ngāti Awa tērā, nō muri ka matika ake ko Te Rūnanga-o-Ngāti Awa. He reo irirangi tō Ngāti Awa, ko Te Reo Irirangi-o-Te Mānuka Tūtahi; he whare kura tuatoru tō te iwi, ko Te Whare Wānanga-o-Awanuiarangi. Kua tahuri a Ngāti Awa ki te whakahōu i a Mataatua wharenui, he taonga whakahirahira i kāhakina i te tau 1878. Nō te tau 1996 rā anō whakahokia mai ai ki te iwi.

He tirohanga whakamua

E 22 ngā hapū o Ngāti Awa, e 19 ōna marae, e 17,000 te tokomaha kua rēhita ki raro i Te Rūnanga-o-Ngāti Awa. Ko te aronga o te iwi mai i te tau 1867, ko te whai paremata mō te raupatu o ōna whenua. I te tekau tau atu i 1990, he nui ngā mahi i tutuki me Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki te whakaea i ngā kerēme a te iwi. Nō te tau 1999 ka puta te pūrongo a te taraipiunara, te Ngāti Awa Raupatu Report, ā, nō te tau 2003 ka tutuki te whakataunga. Kia ea rā anō ngā whakamau katoa, kātahi anō ka rite te kupu ōhākī a Te Mautaranui, te rangatira o Ngāti Awa me Ngāi Tūhoe:

He manu hōu ahau, he pī ka rere.

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 Ngāti Awa (including those who indicated more than one tribe), and the regions where they were found in the greatest numbers in 2013.

The only previous census asking Māori to indicate tribal affiliation – but not of multiple tribes – was that of 1901.

  • 1901 census: 1,701 (includes Te Āti Awa)
  • 1991 census: 9,795
  • 2001 census: 13,044
  • 2006 census: 15,258
  • 2013 census: 16,179

Major regional locations

  • Bay of Plenty: 6,966
  • Auckland: 3,801

Hononga, rauemi nō waho

More suggestions and sources


How to cite this page: Layne Harvey, 'Ngāti Awa', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/ngati-awa/print (accessed 19 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Layne Harvey, i tāngia i te 8 o Pēpuere 2005, updated 1 o Māehe 2017