Te Tai – Treaty Settlement Stories

RIMA | 5
Living the legacy

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei uri (descendants) reflect on the past and dream about the future. They share their insights for creating prosperous lives for current and future generations.

Video: Whai Maia Trust 1 Ltd

The importance of our mountains

Prince (Piriniha) Davis talks about his personal relationship with the maunga (mountain) on the Tāmaki isthmus and asks, ‘What would the maunga say if it could speak?’

Video: Whai Maia Trust 1 Ltd

The connection with the sea

Sharon Hawke talks about her personal relationship with the moana (sea) and asks the question, ‘What would the moana say if it could speak?’

Video: Whai Maia Trust 1 Ltd

Caring for the land

Mervyn Kerehoma talks about his personal relationship with the whenua (land) and asks the question, ‘What would the whenua say if it could speak?’

Video: Whai Maia Trust 1 Ltd

The marae: a place to stand

Wyllis Maihi talks about his personal relationship with Ōrākei marae and ponders the question, ‘What would the marae say if it could speak?’

Video: Whai Maia Trust 1 Ltd

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei leadership

Whai Māia Trust Chief Executive, Rangimārie Hunia talks about Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei 25-year goal to develop their iwi and the work they’re doing to achieve this.

The binding principle

Maungakiēkiē is the mountain
Te Taoū is the authority
Tuperiri is the person.

At Maungawhau is the altar from where
the tears of the ancestors flow
via the stream of Horotiu down to the
obsidian-like waters of the Waitematā
a present essence, a flowing essence, a living essence.

What is the wind that blows hither?
Tis a formidable wind, tis indeed the wind of the homestead, Takaparawhau (Bastion Point) the standing place known in the proverb :
Takaparawhau above Tāmaki below and the authority of the ancestors drifting above and below never to be lost.

The Treaty of Tāmaki above as a roof
The legislation of the land below as a mat.
The points of land the carved posts from

From Pūponga to Onehunga. From Onehunga to Te Rehu. From Te Rehu to Pītoitoi. From Pītoitoi to Tauhinu. From Tauhinu to Maunganui, to Te Ōnewa, all the way to Maungauika. Returning to Te Ōkā. From Te Ōkā to Te Tō, to Te Rerenga-ora-iti, to Te Reuroa, to Waipapa. Continuing onto Te Tōangaroa, to Tararua, arriving at Waitaramoa. Gliding onto Pūrewa, landing at Pourewa.

We look below to Ōkahu, the original homestead of our ancestors. We hold fast to the cliffs of Onepū Whakatakataka and settle at Pokanoa.

Te Kawau is the ridgepole, and Te Taoū, Ngā Oho and Te Uringutu are the pillars.
Ngāti Whatua Ōrākei, a culmination of resource, knowledge and authority.
Ngāti Whātua is a great name for the descendants from Maunganui to Tāmaki
Tāmaki, binder of many canoes and people.

Tīhei Whātua e i!

Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei are continuously researching their history. This published narrative is done to the best of their knowledge.

First published in 2021 by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and Manatū Taonga.

© Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei 2021.

English