Waitaha 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 ...

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 ...

. The tribe lives in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

region and descends from the Arawa waka. Te Arawa FM is the radio station of Te Arawa iwi. It was established in the early 1980s and became a charitable entity in November 1990. It is available on in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

History

Origin

The tribe's ancestor and namesake was Waitaha. He was a son of Hei who was the uncle of

Tamatekapua In Māori mythology, Māori tradition of New Zealand, Tama-te-kapua, also spelt Tamatekapua and Tama-te-Kapua and also known as Tama, was the captain of the ''Arawa (canoe), Arawa'' canoe which came to New Zealand from Polynesia in about 1350. ...

. Their tribe was Ngāti

Ohomairangi In Māori mythology, Ohomairangi is an important ancestor who lived in Hawaiki six generations before the migration to Aotearoa (New Zealand). He is considered the major ancestor of the people of both Te Arawa and Tainui waka. During his lifetime ...

of Ra'iātea Island. After engaging in war with

Uenuku Uenuku (or Uenuku-Kōpako, also given to some who are named after him) is an atua of rainbows and a prominent ancestor in Māori tradition. Māori believed that the rainbow's appearance represented an omen, and one kind of yearly offering made ...

, over 30 members of the tribe migrated to New Zealand on board the '' Ngā rākau rua a Atuamatua'', named in honour of Waitaha and Tamatekapua's grandfather. They encountered the sea creature named Te Parata that was summoned by the people on the ''

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka confederation of New Zealand Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa and Waikato. There are oth ...

''. They were saved from it by a great mythical shark, and in its honour renamed their canoe and themselves to ''Te Arawa''. Upon arriving to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, they explored the coast from

Cape Runaway Cape Runaway ( mi, Whangaparāoa) is the eastern extremity of the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand's North Island. It is located 157 kilometres northeast off Whakatāne and 65 kilometres west of East Cape. The name ''Cape Runaway'' was bestowed by E ...

to the

Hauraki Gulf The Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has an area of 4000 km2,Ngātoro-i-rangi, Ngātoroirangi performed rituals to conceal the tribe's

atua Atua are the gods and spirits of the Polynesian peoples such as the Māori mythology, Māori or the Hawaiian religion, Hawaiians (see also ); the Polynesian languages, Polynesian word literally means "power" or "strength" and so the concept is s ...

and guardians in the landscape, brought to the new island from the old marae at Taputapuātea. They gathered new supplies and moved on, deciding that the western Bay of Plenty would be the best place to settle. The crew began claiming parts of the land for their descendants. Hei claimed the area between the

Papamoa , image = View_to_Mayor.jpg , caption1 = Looking towards Mayor Island down Domain Rd from the Papamoa Hills , city1 = Tauranga , ward = , council = Tauranga City Council , established = , coord ...

mountain and the

Coromandel Range A true-colour image showing Auckland city (left), the Hauraki Gulf (centre) and the Coromandel Peninsula (right). The scene was acquired by NASA's Terra satellite, on October 23, 2002. The Coromandel Range is a mountain range running the length ...

for his son Waitaha. Waitaha indeed lived close to Maketū, along with Tapuika.

Relationship with Ngāi Te Rangi

Over 13 generations ago, Te Arawa iwi including the Waitaha were pushed out of Maketū by Te Rangihouhiri. It took several generations before

Ngāti Whakaue Ngāti Whakaue is a Māori iwi, of the Te Arawa confederation of New Zealand. The tribe lives in the Rotorua district and descends from the Arawa waka. The Ngāti Whakaue village Ōhinemutu is within the township of Rotorua. Ngāti Whakaue tra ...

and the descendants of Waitaha and Tapuika managed to win back Maketū, and negotiate an uneasy truce. The early 1820s saw continued arrivals of many

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an migrants to New Zealand, bringing diseases to which the native Māori had little or no acquired

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity desc ...

. These diseases would wipe out entire villages, and many bodies would lie untouched and unburied out of fear of contagion and infection. These places today are tapu, or used as cemeteries. These plagues such as the coughing death, or ''Te Rewharewha'', impacted Te Arawa even though no Europeans had yet visited their region; so too did the arrival of muskets offset their way of life, when

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, ...

under

Hongi Hika Hongi Hika ( – 6 March 1828) was a New Zealand Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the iwi of Ngāpuhi. He was a pivotal figure in the early years of regular European contact and settlement in New Zealand. As one of the first Māori l ...

slaughtered many Te Arawa tribes at

Lake Rotoehu Lake Rotoehu is the smallest in a chain of three lakes to the northeast of Lake Rotorua in New Zealand's North Island. It is located between the city of Rotorua and town of Whakatane. The southern end of the lake occupies part of the Okataina cald ...

in 1823. Ngāpuhi were assisted by Te Rangihouhiri's descendants,

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east. Ngāi ...

. Te Arawa were so demoralised during these times, that they considered moving south to

Kapiti Island Kapiti Island () is an island about off the west coast of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is long, running southwest/northeast, and roughly wide, being more or less rectangular in shape, and has an area of . Its name has been used s ...

for protection under

Ngāti Toa Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Toarangatira or Ngāti Toa Rangatira, is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) based in the southern North Island and in the northern South Island of New Zealand. Its ''rohe'' (tribal area) extends from Whanganui in the north, Palmerston N ...

. In 1829, five generations after the battle with Te Rangihouhiri, the first European migrant to the region,

Phillip Tapsell Phillip Tapsell, born Hans Homan Jensen Falk (1777/1791? – 6 or 7 August 1873) was a Danish mariner, whaler, and trader who settled in New Zealand. Tapsell first arrived in New Zealand at the Bay of Islands on the ''New Zealander'' on 26 March 1 ...

, brought muskets to the iwi. Te Arawa worked against Ngāi Te Rangi and

Ngāti Awa Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns ...

in jealousy and competition for the muskets. All tribes would be constantly working to weave flax the fastest, the weavings in exchange for the weapons. One skirmish between the tribes resulted in the

Ngāti Hauā Ngāti Hauā is a Māori people, Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, New Zealand, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Wai ...

chief Te Waharoa destroying the trading station at Maketū. Many such skirmishes all culminated into the battle of Te Tūmū on 20 April 1836. Te Arawa suffered greatly, but defeated Ngāi Te Rangi and regained Maketū. They extended their territory from Wairaki at Pāpāmoa to Te Kaokaoroa at Matatā. Some months later, Te Waharoa tried to avenge the battle on Ngāi Te Rangi's behalf by attacking Te Arawa's Te Mātaipuku–Ōhinemutu pā, the gateway of which was named Pūkākī.

References

{{Authority control Iwi and hapū Ngāti Whakaue

History

Origin

Relationship with Ngāi Te Rangi

See also

References