Ko te pepeha mō Ngāti Ruanui arā:
Ko Aotea te waka
Ko Turi te tangata ki runga
Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Waingongoro te awa
Ko Ngāti Ruanui te iwi.
He tini ngā moutere ririki i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Ko tētahi o aua moutere paku ko Rangiātea, e 200 kiromita te tawhiti i Tahiti. E 30 whakatipuranga ki mua, e noho ana a Turi ki reira; koia te tipuna o Ngāti Ruanui.
He whakataukī mō te awa o Pātea, inā:
Pakupaku noa koe, e Pātea, me hoki a Rau i konei.
Nō tō rāua rongotanga mō te ātaahua o Tāneroroa te tamāhine a Turi, ka haere tētahi tokorua, a Uenuku-puanake rāua ko Rau ki te raki kia riro mai i tētahi o rāua a Tāneroroa hei wahine. Kia tae ki te awa o Pātea, ka tīmata a Uenuku ki te whakawhiti. Ka kite ia i te pāpaku o te awa. I konei ka tūturi tana haere, kia pōhēhē tōna hoa he hōhonu te wai. Ehara a Rau i te tangata kaha ki te kauhoe me te aha, ka hoki ia ki tōna kāinga. Ehara, mā te tangata kaha e riro ai te wahine purotu! Nā reira ka hua ko Uenuku–puanake, kāpā ko Rau.
Heoi, nō te tutūnga o te puehu ki waenganui i a Turi rāua ko Uenuku, he rangatira e noho pātata ana ki tōna kāinga, ka rere mōrehu a Turi i Rangiātea. He waimarie ia i te mea i tuaina e tōna hungarei e Toto tētahi rākau nui rawa atu, nānā ka whaongia ngā waka e rua, a Aotea rāua ko Mātā-hou-rua.
I te pō kerekere ka wehe mai a Turi me tōna iwi i Rangiātea mā runga i te waka Aotea-utanga-nui (Aotea taonga nui), i whakaingoatia pērātia nā te huhua o ngā momo tipu, kararehe hōu i mauria e ia. Nō muri mai i tētahi hekenga roa, mōrearea hoki, ka tau rātou ki Kāwhia i te whanga o Aotea. E ai ki te kōrero, ka wehe a Turi me tōna iwi ka hīkoi ki Pātea. Ka whakatūria e rātou te pā o Turi, a Rangitāwhi me tōna whare a Matangirei ki te taha tonga o te awa o Pātea.
I moe te tamāhine a Turi, a Tāneroroa i a Uenuku-puanake nō te waka Tākitimu. Ko Ngāti Ruanui ngā uri whakaheke o tā rāua tama a Ruanui. I tapaina a Ruanui ki te ingoa o tōna tipuna kei Rangiātea.
I roto i ngā whakatipuranga torutoru ka matika ngā uri o Ruanui hei iwi matua ki te tonga o Taranaki, i te takiwā kei waenganui i te awa o Whenuakura me te kōawa o Ōeo.
I tū te maha o ngā pakanga i Taranaki i ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1800, i te whakaekenga ake o ngā taua mau pū o te tai tokerau. He hua kino tō te pū: whakamahia ai ngā pū ki te hopu taurekareka hei mahi muka e pai ai te hoko i ētahi atu pū.
I whakaekea a Ngāti Ruanui e Ngāpuhi i ngā tau 1816–17. Ka tae rawa ki te tonga, ki te pā o Waimate kei te pūaha o te awa o Kapuni. Nō te tau 1818 ka whakaekengia anōtia a Ngāti Ruanui e te taua o Ngāti Toa, o Ngāti Whātua, o Ngāpuhi, i raro i ō rātou rangatira a Te Rauparaha, a Murupaenga, a Tūwhare. I te tau 1819 i arahina he taua e ngā rangatira nui o Ngāpuhi e Patuone mā, kia toro tika ki roto o Taranaki. Ka whakaekengia a Ōkahutītī, te pā o Ngāti Ruanui. Nā tō rātou ngoikore ki te ārai i ngā pū o te hoariri, ka marara a Ngāti Ruanui. Tini te tangata i mate, i heria rānei hei whakarau.
I te marama o Nōema o te tau 1820, i kōrero a Patuone ki te mihinare, kaiwhakawā a Samuel Marsden, e mea ana ia kua tū tōna maungārongo me Taranaki me Ngāti Ruanui. I rongo a Marsden i a Patuone e kī ana, ‘tekau ana tāngata i waiho e ia ki reira kia moe wāhine, ka mutu, i kawea ētahi o Taranaki i tōna taha, ko ētahi kei konei tonu’. 1 Koianei pea te take i te wā i tukuna ai ngā herehere i te rohe o Hokianga e Ngāpuhi i runga i te tono a ngā mihinare i ngā tau tōmuri o te tekau tau atu i 1830, he tokomaha kīhai i hoki ki te tonga. Ko te āhua nei, he maha rātou ehara i te herehere engari he hoa, he tamariki rānei o ngā moenga maungārongo kua whakaritea noatia e Patuone.
Hāunga anō, he nui ngā pakanga ā, kātahi anō ka mau te rongo ki a Ngāti Ruanui.
Nō te tau 1820 ko Te Rauparaha anō tērā i whakaeke mai. I te wā 1821–22 ka puta te taua nui i mōhiotia ai ko te Āmiowhenua; ko tōna rangatira ko Āpihai Te Kawau o Ngāti Whātua.
Nō te tau 1834 ka whakaeke te ope taua nui o Waikato. Nā Te Wherowhero rātou ko Te Waharoa, ko Te Kanawa ā rātou toa e 2,500 te rahi i ārahi ki mua i te pā o Te Ruaki kei te kōawa o Tangāhoe. Ko te kōrero, e whai ana rātou i a Te Rei Hanataua o Ngāti Ruanui.
I te tau 1829 i mauheretia tētahi wahine, a Kōtiro Hinerangi o Ngāti Ruanui e te taua muru o Ngāpuhi ka heria hei taurekareka mā Hone Heke. Nāwai, ka moe ia i tētahi Kōtimana, ko Alexander Grey. Ko tā rāua tamāhine a Te Paea i whānau i te tau 1832. I a ia ka pakeke ka hau te rongo mō tana tū hei kaiārahi matua ki Te Tarata me Ō-tū-kapua-rangi (Pink and White Terraces), ki Rotomahana i mua i tō rātou whakangaromanga i te pahūtanga o Tarawera i te tau 1886. I ngā rā tata i mua i te pahūtanga ka kite a Te Paea i tētahi waka wairua e hoea ana i te roto, ka mōhio ia he aituā kei te haere. Nō muri o te pahūtanga ka hūnuku a Te Paea ki Rotorua, ki reira mahi ai hei kaiārahi tāpoi i Whakarewarewa. Nō te tau 1911 ka mate ia.
E toru marama e awhitia ana te pā, kātahi anō ka horo. I kōrero te minita a William Woon mō te pakanga i Te Ruaki, ‘kāore he kōrero atu i te pōuri nui, nā te nui o ō rātou pāpā, hoa i hinga ki reira’. 2 Ka haere tonu te ope taua, ka riro te pā o Ōhangai. Ka awhitia te pā o Waimate-ōrangi-tuapeka i te riri e mōhiotia ana ko Ngā Ngutu-maiore. E iwa rā i tū ai tēnei riri. Tini te hoariri i mate i te pū o Te Matakātea. Nāwai, ka tono a Te Wherowhero kia mutu te riri i runga i tana kōrero:
Kātahi anō taku patu ka hoki mai. Ka hoki ake nei au, e kore anō e ara mai te rau o taku patu. 3
Koinei te whakaekenga whakamutunga a iwi kē ki runga i a Ngāti Ruanui. Kua pāhuatia te whenua, kua mau herehere te tokomaha, kua rere rānei kei whenua kē.
Ahakoa ngā riri o mua, i tū pakari a Ngāti Ruanui i roto i ngā kaupapa whai hua. I kuhu mārika te iwi ki ngā tūmomo mahi ahuwhenua a te Pākehā. Kia taka ki te tau 1849 kua whai wāhi nui rātou ki ngā mira wīti e rua i tō rātou takiwā. Nō te korenga ake o te hokohoko i te kuhuna mai o te moni, ka tahuri a Ngāti Ruanui ki te mahi i Ngāmotu. Hīkaka tā rātou whai i te mātauranga a te Pākehā. I te tau 1846, hei tā Minita Woon e mārama pai ana te Māori ki ngā Karaipiture, ka mutu e matatau ana rātou ki te tuhi me te pānui. Inā te pai o ngā kura i whakahaerehia e te Māori. I hua tēnei nā te tū motuhake o te Māori me te kore whakapono ki ngā kura Pākehā. I a ia e kōrero ana mō tētahi kura Māori ki Kākaramea, ka tohu te minita hāhi a Richard Taylor ki te mea, haere ngātahi ai ngā take tōrangapū me te mātauranga.
Nō te marama o Pēpuere o te tau 1842 ka tau ki Ngāmotu te mihinare Wēteriana tuatahi, a John Skevington. Kāore i roa ka tae atu te tini o Ngāti Ruanui kia kite i a ia. Ka tuhi reta a Skevington mō te āhua o ‘tā rātou haere tika tonu mai ki a au ki te tono mōku me te kōrero anō, kua whakatapua ahau ki a rātou’. Nā te hīkaka o Ngāti Ruanui kia kawe i te mihinare atu i Ngāmotu ki Waimate, ka wahaina e te e 100 tāngata o te iwi āna tueke katoa – tae atu ki a Mrs Skevington. I hangaia e Skevington tōna whare mīhana ki Heretoa ki ngā tahataha o te kōawa o Inaha. He pāriha nui tōna i toro atu i Ōeo ki Waitōtara.
Ka ātete a Ngāti Ruanui i te hoko whenua ki ngā tāngata whai Pākehā, nā tō rātou mōhio koinei te tīmatanga o te huarahi e ngaro ai ō rātou whenua katoa. I te tau 1851 ka kōrero tētahi rangatira ki a Minita William Woon ‘ko tā rātou oati kia kaua e hoko, ka mutu he tapu te whenua mai i Tataramaika ki Kai-iwi!’ 1 I Ketemarae ka kite a Minita Taylor: ‘He tāngata whai rawa ngā tāngata whenua o konei…He tino ātaahua te whenua i hipa ai mātou … mārama tonu ana te Māori ki tēnei; ka mutu tūpato ana rātou ki te Pākehā, kei kuhu ki waenganui i a rātou’. 2
Waihoki, nō te pakarutanga mai o te pakanga whenua tuatahi i waenganui i a Te Āti Awa me te Karauna i te tau 1860, ka tono a Ngāti Ruanui i ana toa ki te raki kia whawhai i te taha o Te Āti Awa hei aha, hei whakatūpato i ō rātou huānga kia kaua e hokona te whenua.
He nui te utu a Ngāti Ruanui mō tana noho pūmau ki a Te Āti Awa. I ngā tau o 1865, o 1866 ka whakaekengia te tonga o Taranaki e ngā ope taua Pākehā, ka pāhuatia ngā pā me ngā papakāinga.
Heoi i te tau 1868, ka hinga ngā hōia a te Pākehā. I whakaekea e Tītokowaru (nō Ngāti Manuhiakai, he hapū nō Ngā Ruahine, he wāhanga o Ngāti Ruanui) me ana toa te taupuni tawhiti ki Turuturumōkai, e pātata ana ki Hāwera. Tekau ngā hōia Pākehā i mate. I te rongotanga ake mō tēnei patunga, ka whakarōpū ētahi tāngata whai i a rātou, ka kuhu ki te ngahere kia kōkiri i te pā o Tītokowaru arā, Te Ngutu-o-te-Manu, kei te takiwā o Kaponga. Tō rātou heahea. I mate ngā hōia Pākehā e 24 te tokomaha, tae atu ki a Meiha Julius Von Tempsky. Maurirere, mataku ana ngā hapori Pākehā i ngā rā o muri tata mai, ko ētahi i rere mōrehu ki te tonga.
Ka neke whakatetonga a Tītokowaru ki Moturoa, kei uta ake o te wāhi kei reira te tāone o Waverley i ēnei rā, ka whakatū pā ia. Ka noho, ka tatari ia mō te whakaekenga o te ope taua o Kānara George Whitmore. Kātahi anō a Whitmore ka hoki atu ki Taranaki whai muri i ngā pakanga ki a Te Kooti ki Tūranga-nui-a-Kiwa. Nō te pūaotanga ka arahina e Whitmore ana hōia ki mua i te pā. I a rātou ka whakatata ki ngā tūwatawata, ka tukuna te waipū, ka hinga ngā hōia e 20; ka whakawāteatia e Whitmore te pae o te riri.
Ka nuku whakatetonga anō a Tītokowaru ki te pā nui o Taurangaika, e pātata ana ki Maxwell. Engari i te pō i mua o te whakaekenga o Whitmore me ana hōia, ka wehe, ka marara te kotahitanga o ngā iwi o Taranaki i te pā, ka haere whakauta rawa, ki te rohe o Ngāti Maru kei te puku o Taranaki. Whāia, ka riro i te kāwanatanga te mana o te rohe. Nō ngā tau tata ki muri mai, ka riro te nuinga o ngā whenua o Ngāti Ruanui. Nō te tau 1888 ka mate a Tītokowaru, ka tanumia ki tētahi wāhi muna. Neke atu i te e 2,000 te tini i tae ki tōna tangihanga.
I te tau 2013 neke atu i te 7,260 ngā uri o Ngāti Ruanui, ko te nuinga e noho ana ki waho atu o Taranaki. Nō te tau 1996 ka puta te pūrongo a Te Rōpu Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi mō Taranaki. I whakaaturia e te pūrongo te hē o ngā whakaritenga a te Karauna i te rau tau 1800 ki runga i ngā iwi o Taranaki. I runga i ēnei kitenga i whakatūria e Ngāti Ruanui tana Ohu Muru me te Raupatu, ki te whakawhitiwhiti kōrero mō tētahi whakataunga me te kāwanatanga.
I te tau 2001, i te pā o Pariroa ka hainatia tētahi whakataunga. Nō te tau 2003 ka mana te Ture Whakatau a Ngāti Ruanui. Whāia, i te pā o Pariroa anō, ka pānuitia e te Karauna tana whakapāha ki ngā uri e 600 o Ngāti Ruanui.
I tēnei wā ko Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Ruanui te kanohi o te iwi. E whakaae ana te Karauna koia hei māngai mō Ngāti Ruanui, kei a ia ngā kawenga ki te whakahaere i ngā rawa o te iwi hei painga mō ngā uri katoa.
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 Ruanui (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.
Ko 1901 te tau whakamutunga rawa i pātaihia ai te Māori nō tēhea iwi rātou. Heoi kāore i pātaihia kia whakatakotohia ngā iwi maha.
Belich, James. I shall not die: Titokowaru’s war. Wellington: Allen & Unwin, 1989.
Cowan, James. The adventures of Kimble Bent. London: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1911.
Cowan, James. The New Zealand wars. 2 vols. Wellington: Government Printer, 1983 (originally published 1922–23).
Hammond, T. G. The story of Aotea. Christchurch: Lyttelton Times, 1924.
Houston, John. Maori Life in old Taranaki. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1965.
Smith, S. Percy. History and traditions of the Maoris of the west coast, North Island of New Zealand, prior to 1840. New Plymouth: Polynesian Society, 1910.
Sole, Tony. Ngāti Ruanui: a history. Wellington: Huia, 2005.