Whakatīwai is a locality on the

Seabird Coast The Seabird Coast, also known as the Wharekawa Coast, is a beach area situated on the Firth of Thames in the North Island of New Zealand, lies about three kilometres from the small town of Miranda, New Zealand, Miranda. It is the location of the P ...

on the western shore of the

Firth of Thames The Firth of Thames ( mi, Tikapa Moana-o-Hauraki) is a large bay located in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the firth of the rivers Waihou and Piako, the former of which was formerly named the Thames River, and the town o ...

, in the

Hauraki District Hauraki District is a territorial authority within the Hauraki region of New Zealand. The seat of the council is at Paeroa. The area covered by the district extends from the southwest coast of the Firth of Thames southeast towards Te Aroha, alth ...

, New Zealand. Whakatīwai is the location of Wharekawa Marae, which holds importance for

Ngāti Paoa 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 ...

and

Ngāti Whanaunga Ngāti Whanaunga is a Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand, descended from Whanaunga, the third son of Marutūāhu. It is one of the tribes of the Marutūāhu confederation, the others being Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Ron ...

Whakatīwai Regional Park Whakatīwai Regional Park is a regional park on New Zealand's North Island. It runs from the eastern side of the Hunua Ranges, where it adjoins Hunua Ranges Regional Park, down to the Firth of Thames coast, just north of the settlement of Whakatī ...

is just north of Whakatīwai. Until 2010, Whakatīwai was a part of the

Franklin District Franklin District was a New Zealand territorial authority that lay between the Auckland metropolitan area and the Waikato Plains. As a formal territory it was abolished on 31 October 2010 and divided between Auckland Council in the Auckland Reg ...

. Because it was previously considered a part of the Auckland region, the Whakatīwai Regional Park continues to be owned and operated by the

Auckland Council Auckland Council ( mi, Te Kaunihera o Tāmaki Makaurau) is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is ...

History

Whakatīwai is the site where 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 ...

'' ancestor Hotunui settled, after exiling himself from the

Kāwhia Harbour Kawhia Harbour (Maori: ''Kāwhia'') is one of three large natural inlets in the Tasman Sea coast of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located to the south of Raglan Harbour, Ruapuke and Aotea Harbour, 40 kilometres southw ...

. Hotunui's son Marutūahu established a pā at Whakatīwai, and Marutūahu's sons became the ancestors of the five tribes of the

Marutūāhu __NOTOC__ Marutūāhu, Marutūahu or Marutuahu is a collective of the Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of the Hauraki region of New Zealand. The confederation is made up of the tribes of Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Tamaterā, Ngāti Whanaunga and Ng� ...

collective. Whakatīwai became a settlement of

Ngāti Pāoa Ngāti Pāoa is a Māori people, Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes of New Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of the Hauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled on Hauraki ...

, one of the Marutūāhu tribes, and is called the ''poutokomanawa'' ("heart post") of the Ngāti Paoa

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ''rohe'' to describe the territory or boundaries of ''iwi'' (tribes), although some divide their rohe into several ''takiwā''. The areas shown on the map (right) are indicative only, and some iwi ...

. During the

Musket Wars The Musket Wars were a series of as many as 3,000 battles and raids fought throughout New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands) among Māori between 1807 and 1837, after Māori first obtained muskets and then engaged in an intertribal arms ra ...

in 1821, the Ngāti Pāoa settlement at Whakatīwai was sacked. Ngāti Pāoa continued to live in the area, and in 1827 Ngāti Pāoa sheltered

Apihai Te Kawau Apihai Te Kawau (died November 1869) was a paramount chief of the Ngāti Whātua Māori ''iwi'' (tribe) of Auckland (), New Zealand in the 19th century. Te Kawau's father was Tarahawaiki and his grandfather was Tūperiri, the principal leader o ...

, paramount chief of

Ngāti Whātua Ngāti Whātua is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the lower Northland Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island. It comprises a confederation of four hapū (subtribes) interconnected both by ancestry and by association over time: Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Roroa, Te ...

, at Whakatīwai during the war. In 1874, Ngāti Pāoa held a great

hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

at Whakatīwai for over 3,000 delegates to finalise the plans for opening the Ohinemuri goldfields in the

Karangahake Gorge The Karangahake Gorge lies between the Coromandel and Kaimai ranges, at the southern end of the Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island. A sharply winding canyon, it was formed by the Ohinemuri River. State Highway 2 passes throug ...

, which included speakers

Wiremu Kīngi Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke (c. 1795 – 13 January 1882), Māori Chief of the Te Āti Awa Tribe, was leader of the Māori forces in the First Taranaki War. He was born in 1795-1800 in Manukorihi pa, near Waitara. He was one of the 3 sons of ...

and Tareha Te Moananui and crown negotiator James Mackay. In the early 20th century, Whakatīwai was predominantly

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 ...

, while

Kaiaua Kaiaua is a small coastal settlement on the Seabird Coast, on the western shore of the Firth of Thames, in the Hauraki District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It is 80km (60 minutes drive) from Auckland. Name The name of t ...

directly to the south was predominantly

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

. Because of this, the Kaiaua School was moved to a location central for both townships in the 1930s. , a minesweeper from World War II, was beached at Stevenson's gravel quarry in the mid-1950s to serve as a breakwater. A photograph of the wreck featured on the cover of ''

The Islander Islander, Islanders, or The Islanders may refer to: People * Islander, referring to Jersey people * Islander, New Zealand-English term usually meaning Pacific Islander Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''The Islander'' (Rylant novel), ...

'', a record album by

Dave Dobbyn Sir David Joseph Dobbyn (born 3 January 1957) is a New Zealand musician, singer–songwriter and record producer. In his early career he was a member of the rock group Th' Dudes and was the main creative force in pop band DD Smash. Since then he ...

References

{{Coord, 37, 5, S, 175, 18, E, region:NZ_type:city, display=title Hauraki District Ngāti Pāoa Populated places around the Firth of Thames