Ko Rongomaiwahine te tipuna matua o ngā iwi o Te Māhia. He ariki tapairu ia ka heke iho i a Ruawharo, te tohunga nui i runga i a Tākitimu, rāua ko Popoto, te rangatira o Kurahaupō. Ko Rapa tōna matua, ko Moekakara tōna whaea.
Nā Ruawharo te ingoa o Te Māhia i tapa, he rite nō te āhua o te kūrae ki Te Māhia-mai-tawhiti, tetahi wāhi kei te kāinga tūturu o tōna iwi. I ngā rā o muri mai ka mōhiotia tēnei wāhi ko Nukutaurua, he ingoa e whakahuatia tonutia ana i ēnei rā.
Ko Ruawharo te tohunga, te kaitiaki o ngā atua i mauria mai e te waka Tākitimu i Hawaiki. I mahue nga rango o te waka a Tākitimu ki roto i te hōpua o Maungawhio me te manga o Te Papa kei Te Māhia. Nā Ruawharo i waihanga te whare wānanga tuatahi, ki Waikawa, ko Ngāheru-mai-tawhiti. Koinei te wāhi wairua mō te tai rāwhiti puta noa i ōna rā.
Ko Wahatoa te pā tuatahi o Ruawharo, kei runga ake o Ōraka. Ko Tūtara-kauika tōna pā tuarua, i te taha raki o te kūrae. I moe ia i a Hinewairakaia ka whānau mai ā rāua tama tokotoru: ko Matiu, ko Mākaro, ko Moko-tū-a-raro. I whakanōhia rātou hei mauri whakawhānui i ngā tauranga ika: ka whakanōhia a Matiu kia tata ki te whanga o Waikokopu, ko Mākaro i whakanōhia ki Arapāoanui, ko Moko-tū-a-raro i whakanōhia ki te pūaha o te awa o Ngaruroro.
I noho a Rongomaiwahine rāua ko tōna hoa tāne tuatahi a Tamatakutai ki Tawapata, kei te taha rāwhiti o Te Māhia. He tangata whakairo a Tamatakutai. Tokorua ā rāua tamāhine ko Rongomaiwahine, ko Rapuaiterangi rāua ko Hinerauiri. I te hapū a Rongomaiwahine i a Hinerauiri i te whakamatenga a Kahungunu i a Tamatakutai.
I whānau a Kahungunu ki Kaitaia. Ka taka te wā, ka haere whakatetonga ia ka moe wāhine haere mai. I tana taenga ki Nukutaurua, ka ngana a Kahungunu kia riro māna a Rongomaiwahine, ahakoa te mea kua moe tāne kē ia.
Ka matika a Kahungunu ki te whakarata i te iwi o Rongomaiwahine mā te kohi aruhe kia nui rawa atu. Kātahi ia ka piki i te puke i muri o te pā o Tawapata, ki reira mātaki ai i ngā karoro e ruku ana i te wai; ka whakangungu ia kia rite tana kuku hau ki tā ngā manu kuku hau. Mai i tēra wā kua mōhiotia taua puke ko Puke Karoro. Kātahi a Kahungunu ka haere ki te ruku. Kikī ana ngā ipu ki te pāua hei toha mā ngā tāngata katoa o te pā. Nō tōna pueanga ake i tana ruku whakamutunga, kua piri katoa te pāua ki tōna uma. Mīharo ana te iwi.
Kātahi ka whakatika a Kahungunu ki te whakaara raruraru i waenganui i a Tamatakutai rāua ko Rongomaiwahine. Ka kainga e ia te puku pāua, ka haere huna ki te moenga o te tokorua rā patero ai. Ka oho te tokorua rā ka tautohetohe rāua ki a rāua anō.
Aoake i te ata ka haere a Kahungunu rāua ko Tamatakutai ki te reti waka. Ko Kahungunu te kaiurungi; ka taupokina e ia te waka i tētahi ngaru nui. Kīhai a Tamatakutai i mōhio ki te kauhoe, ka toremi.
Nāwai, ka moe a Rongomaiwahine ki a Kahungunu. Ko tō rāua pā matua ko Maunga-a-Kāhia (Maungakāhia), nā Kahungunu i hanga. Tokorima ā rāua tamariki; tokotoru ngā tama, a Kahukuranui rātou ko Tamatea-kōtā, ko Māhakinui; tokorua ngā tamāhine, ko Rongomaipapa rāua ko Tauheikurī.
Nā te nui o te mana o Rongomaiwahine, ka mau tonu te iwi o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine ki tō rātou ake tuakiri. Ko ētahi o ngā uri mōhiotia ai nō Ngāti Rongomaiwahine rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu, engari ko ngā uri heke tika iho i ana tamāhine tōmua ka kī nō Ngāti Rongomaiwahine taketake rātou.
He nui ngā tauranga ika o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine. Nui ana te kai ki ngā ākau – hei ngā marama tika kua mahia te karengo. He nui ngā mahinga mātaitai pēnei i te pipi, te tuangi me te tuatua; kainga ai e Ngāti Rongomaiwahine te kiko tohorā. Hopukina ai ngā īnanga ki ngā awa me ngā tuna ki ngā kōawa. I ōna rā i kākahutia katoatia te kūrae ki te ngahere, ka mutu he nui ngā kai o roto. He kai nui te aruhe ki te iwi o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine. He pai tēnei takiwā mō te whakatipu kūmara.
E kī ana te kōrero i mauria mai te karaka ki Aotearoa mā runga i a Kurahaupō, i ū mai ki Tawapata i Te Māhia. He kai nui ki te Māori te hua o te karaka (Corynocarpus laevigata). Kainga ai te kiko o te hua o te karaka. Hāunga a roto rawa, ka mate te tangata ka kai mata i te kākano; kia āta mahia rā anōtia te kākano kātahi anō ka pai ki te kai.
Ko ētahi o ngā teihana patu tohorā tuatahi ki Aotearoa i tū ki Te Māhia. Nō te tau 1837 whakatūria ai e ngā tuakana, teina Ward he teihana patu tohorā ki Waikokopu. Ko te kūrae te wāhi tino kitea ai te nui o te tohorā. I te tau 1845 e 26 ngā parāoa i patua i te teihana a Kāpene Ellis i Kinikini.
He rite te rongonui o ngā teihana patu tohorā o Te Māhia ki ērā o te Pēwhairangi mō te takahi a ngā tāngata i te ture.
I ngā Māori o Te Māhia ō rātou ake waka patu tohorā. Ka tae mai te wā, ka katia ngā teihana Pākehā nā te iti o ngā tohorā; hāunga tērā ka whai tohorā tonu ngā Māori.
Nō ngā rā tata kua taha ake kua whai oranga ētahi o ngā uri o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine i ngā mahi hī ika, koura hoki. Kei te pito tonga o te kūrae, ko ‘Onenui’, te teihana whakamōmona hipi, kau o ngā uri whakaheke o ngā tamariki a Rongomaiwahine.
E mōhiotia whānuitia ana a Te Māhia mō te mahana o ngā rangi, mō ōna tuaone, mō te hī ika me ngā wāhi reti ngaru. Tokomaha ngā tāngata o te iwi o Rongomaiwahine kua whakatū waka kaipakihi ka pā ki runga ki ēnei āhuatanga. Ko te Poari Whakahaere o Te Whānau o Rongomaiwahine te rūnanga o te iwi; ka tū rātou mō te iwi i runga i ngā take whakarato hauora me ngā take whānui.
Ko ngā marae matua o Ngāti Rongomaiwahine ko Tuahuru, Te Rakato, Ruawharo, Māhanga, Kaiuku.
Ko tēnei te wāhi ka karangatia ai ngā tohora kia whakatata ki uta, mā roto rawa o te awa, kia tae ki tētahi toka ko tōna hanga anō he tohorā. He puna kei te tipuaki o te toka, ko te Puna a Tinirau te ingoa. I konei ka ruia e Ruawharo he one i kawea mai ai i Hawaiki.
He wāhi tapu te ara a Paikea, e rite ana tōna hanga ki te tohorā.
He maunga whakahī, he maunga tapu tēnei kei te taha uru o Te Māhia. Ko te tangi o te hau ka ngoio mā tētahi kōhao kei tōna tihi e rite ana ki te tangi o te tohorā.
Kei te whenua rāhui neitētahi toka hōpuapua; nō te tau 1842 whakamahia ai e Ātirīkona Wiremu Wiremu te toka hōpuapua nei hei ipu whakairiiri i ngā Māori e 245 te tokomaha. Nā te whakaawe a te whakapono Karaitiana te take kāore i whakairohia ētahi o ngā whare i te rohe.
Ko te tapuwae o Rongokako kua mau ki konei. Ko Rongokako te tama a Tamatea-mai-tawhiti (Tamatea-arikinui), te rangatira o te waka Tākitimu. I a ia ka whakataetae kia riro a Muriwhenua hei wahine māna, ka mawhiti nui a Rongokako, atu i Kahuranaki i te rohe o Heretaunga ki Kirihaehae i Te Māhia, tau atu ai ki Te Tapuwae o Rongokako e pātata atu ana ki Whāngārā. Ka kitea ōna tapuwae kei ngā wāhi nei.
He nui ngā kōrero e pā ana ki te hōpua wai nei kei te ākau kei raro o te pā o Maungakāhia. Ko Tūtāmure rāua ko tana teina a Tama Taipūnoa nō te iwi o Te Whakatōhea kei te pito rāwhiti o Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi. I tā rāua ranaki i te mate o tā rāua tuahine a Tāneroa, ka whakapae te tokorua nei i rere te kaikōhuru ki te pā o Maungakāhia. I tēnei ka whakaekea a Maungakāhia, te pā o Kahungunu. Nā Tauheikurī, te tamāhine pōtiki rawa a Rongomaiwahine rāua ko Kahungunu, i ora ai tōna matua me te iwi, i tana whakaaetanga kia moe ia ki a Tūtāmure. Ka arahina a Tauheikurī ki te puni o Tūtāmure rāua ko Tama Taipūnoa kia tūtaki ki te tokorua rā. Nā tana kore mōhio ko wai a wai, ka tohungia e ia ko te teina, te mea pūrotu, a Tama Taipūnoa. Ahakoa i tutea e Tama Taipūnoa te kōtiro rā kia aro ki tōna tuakana ki a Tūtāmure, ka tahuri mai anō a ia ki a Tama Taipūnoa. I tēnei ka matika a Tūtāmure ka haere ki te wai ataata kia kite ai ia i tōna āhua; nō tana kitenga atu ka whakaae ia, ehara, he pūrotu ake tana teina a Tama Taipūnoa i a ia, nā reira me riro kē e te teina a Tauheikurī hei wahine māna.
Ko te ingoa tūturu o tēnei pā ko Okurarenga. I te tau 1832 ka whakaekengia te pā nei e te kāhui taua mau pū, o Ngāti Raukawa, o Ngāti Tūwharetoa, o Waikato, o Te Arawa, o Tūhoe. Ka hipa te toru marama e awhitia ana te pā, kua pau katoa ngā kai. Ka tahuri ngā tāngata ki te ngote uku hei kai. Nā reira tapaina ai taua wāhi ko Kaiuku.
I ngā tatauranga o Aotearoa mai i te tau 1991 ka pātaihia ngā tāngata Māori nō tēhea iwi rātou.
Kei raro ko ngā nama e whakaatu ana tokohia ngā tāngata nō Ngāti Rongomaiwahine (e whai pānga ana rānei ki ētahi atu iwi hoki). Kei raro anō whakaatuhia ai ngā iwi o ngā rohe nunui i te tatauranga o te tau 2013.
Halbert, R. W. Horouta: the history of the Horouta canoe, Gisborne and East Coast. Auckland: Reed, 1999.
Lambert, Thomas. The story of old Wairoa and the East Coast district, North Island New Zealand. Auckland: Reed, 1998 (originally published 1925).
Mitchell, J. H. Takitimu. Christchurch: Kiwi, 1997 (originally published 1944).
Phillipps, W. J. ‘Ika-Whenua: the mauri of the whales on Mahia Peninsula.’ Journal of the Polynesian Society 57, no. 1 (March 1948): 41–59.
Wilson, J. G., and others. The history of Hawke’s Bay. Christchurch: Capper, 1976 (originally published 1939).