Ko Waikato te kāhui iwi, ko Waikato te rohe whenua, ko Waikato te awa. Ko ngā iwi o Waikato ka puta i te waka a Tainui – pērā i a Ngāti Maniapoto, i a wai atu. Kīia ai rātou, ko Pare Waikato, arā, ngā iwi e noho ana ki ngā paenga whenua o Waikato.
Ko ētahi o ngā iwi o Pare Waikato, ko Ngāti Mahuta, ko Ngāti Māhanga, ko Ngāti Tamainupō, ko Ngāti Wairere, ko Ngāti Te Ata, ko Ngāti Tīpā, ko te tokomaha atu. Ka hāngai ngā hītori tōmua o Waikato ki ngā kāinga tuatahi o ngā tāngata o Tainui i Kāwhia, i te tai hauāuru o Te Ika-a-Māui. Nō te takiwā o te rau tau 1200 ka ū a Tainui ki Kāwhia.
Te Kīngitanga
Ko te Kīngitanga tētahi taonga whakakotahi i ngā iwi o Waikato. Ko te marae o Tūrangawaewae i Ngāruawāhia te pokapū o te Kīngitanga. Mai anō i tōna waihangatanga i te tekau tau atu i 1850, ko Waikato te nōhanga o te Kīngitanga. Ko te kīngi tuatahi, ko Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, he rangatira nō Waikato; ka tukua te mana o te Kīngitanga ki ōna uri, tatū mai ki Te Arikinui o ēnei rā.
Ngā whenua
Kei te pepeha nei te whakamārama mō te rohe o Waikato, inā:
Ko Mōkau ki runga
Ko Tāmaki ki raro
Ko Mangatoatoa ki waenganui.
Pare Hauraki, Pare Waikato
Te Kaokaoroa-o-Pātetere.
Kei te raki o Taranaki te awa o Mōkau e kōrerohia nei; he whenua kūiti a Tāmaki-makau-rau, kei reira e tū ana te tāone o Tāmaki. Ko Mangatoatoa, he kāinga kei te tonga o Te Awamutu. Ko te rohe o Pare Hauraki, ko ngā takiwā o Piako, o Ōhinemuri, o Moehau. Ko te rohe o Pare Waikato atu i Kāwhia, ka rere whakateraki ki te whanga o Manukau, taupae atu ki ngā pae maunga o Hūnua me Te Hapuakohe. Heoi, ko ngā tāone āhua nui ki te rohe o Waikato, ko Te Awamutu, ko Kemureti (Cambridge), ko Kirikiriroa (Hamilton), ko Rāhui Pōkeka (Huntly).
I ētahi wā, whakaritea ai te rohe o Waikato ki te waka, ina rā, ko Tāmaki te kei o te waka, ko Mōkau te tauihu, ko Te Paeroa-o-Toitehuatahi te ama.
