Ngāti Awa is a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

(tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It is made of 22

hapū In Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief and normally opera ...

(subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including

Whakatāne Whakatāne ( , ) is the seat of the Bay of Plenty region in the North Island of New Zealand, east of Tauranga and north-east of Rotorua, at the mouth of the Whakatāne River. Whakatāne District is the encompassing territorial authority, whi ...

Kawerau Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distric ...

Edgecumbe Edgecumbe is a town in the Bay of Plenty of the North Island of New Zealand, 15 kilometres to the west of Whakatāne and eight kilometres south of the Bay's coast. It is the main service town for the agricultural region surrounding the plains ...

Te Teko Te Teko is a small inland town along the banks of the Rangitaiki River in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The township includes a racecourse, golf course, police station, and a primary school. The primary school was estab ...

and Matatā. Two urban hapū also exist in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

(''Ngāti Awa-ki-Tamaki'') and

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

(''Ngāti Awa-ki-Poneke'').

History

Early history

Ngāti Awa traces its origins to the arrival of Māori settlers on the ''

Mātaatua ''Mātaatua'' was one of the great voyaging canoes by which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand, according to Māori tradition. Māori traditions say that the ''Mātaatua'' was initially sent from Hawaiki to bring supplies of kūmara to Māori ...

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

(canoe). The ''Mātaatua'' settlers established settlements in the Bay of Plenty and Northland. Initially, the tribe controlled a large area in Northland, but conflicts with other northern iwi resulted in a southward migration. One group eventually settled in the eastern Bay of Plenty, whose descendants would eventually found the iwi. Awanuiarangi II is recognised as the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Awa. Awanuiarangi II was a chief descended from Toroa, captain of the ''Mātaatua''. Descendants of Awanuiarangi II eventually formed their own iwi, Ngāti Awa, named after their ancestor.

Tribal and land wars

Ngāti Awa was frequently at war with neighbouring iwi, including those with similar ancestry. Ngāti Awa initially had good trading relations with European settlers. However, the

New Zealand Wars The New Zealand Wars took place from 1845 to 1872 between the New Zealand colonial government and allied Māori on one side and Māori and Māori-allied settlers on the other. They were previously commonly referred to as the Land Wars or the M ...

of the 1860s resulted in the British Crown confiscating more than 1,000 km² of Ngāti Awa land. For more than a century afterwards, Ngāti Awa remained an aggrieved, struggling people. However, in 1999, the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on cla ...

determined that the confiscation of Ngāti Awa land in the New Zealand Wars by the British Crown was illegal, and in 2003 a settlement was reached between Ngāti Awa and the New Zealand Government. In the nineteenth century Ngāti Pūkeko were considered a separate iwi, but they are currently considered a hapū of Ngāti Awa.

Government settlement

In 2003, following almost ten years of negotiations between the New Zealand Government and Ngāti Awa, a settlement was announced and reparations were made to the iwi. In summary: *The New Zealand Government ('the Crown') acknowledged and apologised for the illegal confiscation of Ngāti Awa land during the New Zealand Wars *The Crown paid NZ$42.39 million in reparations to Ngāti Awa *The Crown agreed to return control of seven sites of historical and cultural significance to the iwi *Three locations were renamed in accordance with original Ngāti Awa place names. On settlement the Ngāti Awa Research Centre that was established in 1989 to generate research for the Waitangi Tribunal claim became Ngāti Awa Research and Archives.

Hapū and marae

Whakatāne hapū

The following hapū are based around

and Coastlands: * Ngāti Hokopū, based at Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te Rāhui

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

and Te Hokowhitu a Tūmatauenga

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...

, and at Te Whare o Toroa marae * Ngāti Wharepaia, based at Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te Rāhui marae and Te Hokowhitu a Tūmatauenga wharenui and Te Whare o Toroa marae * Te Patuwai me Ngāti Maumoana, based at Toroa marae * Warahoe, based at Tokitareke marae and Te Puna o Te Orohi wharenui * Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri II, based at Te Rangihouhiri II marae * Ngāi Taiwhakaea II, based at Taiwhakaea marae and Taiwhakaea II wharenui

Poroporo hapū

The following hapū are based around Poroporo and Paroa: * Ngāti Pūkeko, based at Pūkeko marae * Ngāti Rangataua, based at Rangataua marae * Ngāti Tamapare, based at Rewatu marae and Ueimua wharenui * Te Whānau o Tariao Tapuke, based at Rangimarie marae and Rarawhati wharenui * Ngāti Hikakino, based at Puawairua marae

Te Teko hapū

The following hapū are based around Te Teko and

: * Ngā Maihi, based at Tūteao marae * Ngāi Tamaoki, based at Ruaihona marae * Ngāi Tamawera, based at Uiraroa marae * Ngāti Hāmua, based at Te Māpou marae and Rongotangiawa wharenui * Te Pahipoto, based at Kokohinau (Tuhimata) marae and Oruatapare wharenui * Tuariki, based at Tuariki marae * Te Kahupāke, based in the area of Te Teko

Matatā and Motiti hapū

The following hapū are based around Matatā and on Motiti Island: * Te Tāwera, based at Iramoko marae and Te Paetata wharenui, in Matatā * Te Patuwai me Ngāti Maumoana, based at Te Hinga o te Ra marae, and at Te Rua Kopiha marae and Tamatea ki te Huatahi wharenui, on Motiti Island

Urban hapū

The following urban hapū are affiliated with Ngāti Awa: * Ngāti Awa ki Poneke, based at Te Tumu Herenga Waka marae at Victoria University in

* Ngāti Awa ki Tāmaki Makaurau, based at Mātaatua marae and Awanuiarangi wharenui, at

Māngere Māngere () or Mangere is one of the largest suburbs in Auckland, in northern New Zealand. It is located on mainly flat land on the northeastern shore of the Manukau Harbour, to the northwest of Manukau City Centre and 15 kilometres south of ...

Governance

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa became the new governing body of the

in 2005. Representatives from the

Rūnanga In Tikanga Māori (Māori culture or practice), a (runaka in Southern Māori dialect) is a tribal council, assembly, board or boardroom. The term can also be a verb meaning "to discuss in an assembly". An iwi (tribe) can have one governing rūna ...

were responsible for negotiating the settlement with the government on behalf of Ngāti Awa. Based in Whakatāne, the rūnanga manages the financial assets of the iwi, and promotes cultural, educational and economic development in the region. The trust manages the tribe's

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi ( mi, Te Tiriti o Waitangi) is a document of central importance to the history, to the political constitution of the state, and to the national mythos of New Zealand. It has played a major role in the treatment of the M ...

settlement under the Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Act and is a body corporate for the tribe's land, under Te Runanga o Ngāti Awa Act. It represents the iwi in aquaculture and fisheries under the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act, and represents the iwi during resource consent consultation under the Resource Management Act. The trust is governed by one representative from each of the 22 hapū, and is based in Whangarei.

Local government

The tribal area of the iwi is within the territory of

Kawerau District Council Kawerau District Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Kawerau) is the territorial authority for the Kawerau District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Kawerau, who is currently . There are also eight councillors representing the distric ...

and Whakatāne District Council. It is also within the wider territory of the

Bay of Plenty Regional Council Bay of Plenty Regional Council is the administrative body responsible for overseeing regional land use, environmental management and civil defence in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. It was founded as part of the 1989 New Z ...

Media

Sun FM

Sun FM is the radio station for Ngāti Awa. It was first known as Te Reo Irirangi o Te Manuka Tutāhi during a three-week AM trial run in 1990. It went to air as Tumeke FM in 6 April 1991, became Sun FM in 1994 to increase its advertising appeal, and between 1996 and 1999 worked to increase its Māori language content. The

classic hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

station broadcasts on in

Notable people

* Wepiha Apanui *

Leni Apisai Leni Chris Anitoni Apisai (born 8 March 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a hooker for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career Born in the to ...

Mere Broughton Mary Mereiwa Broughton (née Whakaruru, 24 December 1938 – 31 January 2016), known as Mere Broughton, was a New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist. Early life Of Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Te Arawa and Ngāt ...

* Catherine Carran *

Tāmati Coffey Tamati Gerald Coffey (born 19 September 1979) is a list Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the New Zealand Labour Party. Prior to entering Parliament, he was most notably an award-winning broadcaster fronting many shows over a decade, for ...

* Samuel Horouta Emery * Wira Gardiner * Ngapiki Hakaraia * Joe Harawira * Matekoraha Te Peehi Jaram * Georgina Kingi *

Karl Leonard Karl Rangikawhiti Leonard (born 1964) is a New Zealand carver and weaver of Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa and Ngati Raukawa descent. He was the first man elected to the committee of the national Māori weavers' collective, Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearo ...

* Eruera Riini Manuera * Hamiora Tumutara Te Tihi-o-te-whenua Pio * Dan Pryor *

Kara Pryor Kara A. Pryor (born 2 April 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loose forward for Rugby United New York (RUNY) of Major League Rugby (MLR). Senior career Pryor started out his National Provincial Championship ca ...

Linda Tuhiwai Smith Linda Tuhiwai Te Rina Smith (née Mead; born 1950) was a professor of indigenous education at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New ZealandAlbert Oliphant Stewart * Te Hura Te Taiwhakaripi * Maata Te Taiawatea Rangitukehu * Eruera Hamiora Tumutara *

Gugi Waaka Hore Wiremu "Gugi" Waaka (1 August 1937 – 5 July 2014), also known as Gugi Walker, was a New Zealand musical entertainer. A guitarist and singer, he was a founding member of the Quin Tikis and the Maori Volcanics Showband. Biography Of Ngāt ...

* Te Kari Waaka * Carin Wilson

References

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