Ngātiwai or Ngāti Wai 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 ...

of the east coast of the

Northland Region The Northland Region ( mi, Te Tai Tokerau) is the northernmost of New Zealand's 16 local government regions. New Zealanders sometimes refer to it as the Winterless North because of its mild climate all throughout the year. The main population ...

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 ...

. Its historical tribal area or rohe stretched from

Cape Brett Cape Brett Peninsula ( mi, Rākaumangamanga) is a long peninsula in the Bay of Islands, in the Northland Region of New Zealand. The head of the peninsula is Cape Brett itself (also known by the Māori, ), a promontory which extends north into ...

in the north to Takatū Point on Tawharanui Peninsula in the south and out to

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

, the

Poor Knights Islands The Poor Knights Islands (Māori: ''Tawhiti Rahi)'' are a group of islands off the east coast of the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. They lie to the northeast of Whangarei, and offshore halfway between Bream Head an ...

and other offshore islands. Descendants of Ngātiwai include brothers

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

Ian Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

and

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...

, artist

Shona Rapira Davies Shona Rapira Davies (born 1951) is a sculptor and painter of Ngātiwai ki Aotea tribal descent. Currently residing in Wellington New Zealand. Education Rapira Davies first studied at the Auckland College of Education, majoring in art, and lat ...

, and writer Paula Morris.

History

Early history

Ngātiwai trace their ancestry to one of the earliest settlers of Te Tai-tokerau, Manaia, who was transformed into stone, with his family and servant Paekō atop

Mount Manaia Mount Manaia is a dominant landmark approximately 30 kilometres southeast of Whangārei city on the Whangārei Heads peninsula. Standing 420 metres, the summit offers outstanding views of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery, Bream Bay and th ...

in the Whangarei Harbour. His descendant Manaia II, some 14 generations later, was the ''

rangatira In Māori culture, () are tribal chiefs, the hereditary Māori leaders of a hapū. Ideally, rangatira were people of great practical wisdom who held authority () on behalf of the tribe and maintained boundaries between a tribe's land and that ...

'' of Ngāti Manaia established. Following a battle with

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

at their pā at Mimiwhāngata, Ngāti Manaia fled out to sea, along the eastern coast, and on to the offshore islands. They became adept seafarers and were known as Ngātiwai-ki-te-moana under the leadership of Te Rangihōkaia and siblings Torematao and Te Rangapū. Known for their ocean traditions and customs and coastal raiding, Ngātiwai ("descendants of the sea") were often accompanied by a guardian sea-hawk or Tūkaiaia, whereby other tribes would be warned that Ngātiwai were on the move – either at sea or on land. The iwi has become associated with Ngāpuhi.

Tribal links and movement

After the time of Te Rangihōkaia, a descendant of Manaia, a number of key marriages cemented the relationship between Ngātiwai and the Kawerau

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 ...

of Ngāti Rehua and

Ngāti Manuhiri Ngāti Manuhiri is a Māori iwi of the Mahurangi Peninsula area of New Zealand. They have an interest in the region from the Okura River in the south to Mangawhai in the north, and extending out to Great Barrier Island. They are descended from ...

. During the late 1700s and early 1800s the Ngāpuhi tribes pushed east toward Kawakawa, Te Rāwhiti and the Whangaruru coast, where they absorbed other tribes, including Ngāti Manu, Te Kapotai, Te Uri o Rata, Ngare Raumati and Ngātiwai.

Modern history

In April 2006, Ngātiwai sued the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

over its handling of consultation issues in Northland regarding a marine reserve.Article from the Independent
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Notable people

Briar Grace-Smith Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays ''Don't Ca ...

, writer * Paula Morris, writer *

Ian Peters Ian Peters (born 1941) is a former New Zealand politician of the National and New Zealand First parties. Personal life Peters was born in Kawakawa in 1941. He is a brother of NZ First MP, leader and minister, Winston Peters, and former NZ First ...

, politician * Jim Peters, politician *

, politician *

, artist *

Shane Reti Shane Raymond Reti (born 5 June 1963) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, first elected at the 2014 general election. He is a member of the New Zealand National Party and served as its deputy ...

, politician * Laly Haddon, Māori All Black * Paratene Te Manu, Ngāti Wai chief and warrior

References

External links

Ngatiwai Trust Board
Northland Region Iwi and hapū {{Maori-stub