| Muaūpoko | |
|---|---|
| Iwi (tribe) inMāoridom | |
 | |
| Rohe (region) | Kāpiti Coast |
| Waka (canoe) | Kurahaupō |
| Population | 2,499 |
Muaūpoko is aMāoriiwi on theKāpiti Coast ofNew Zealand.
Muaūpoko are descended from the ancestor Tara, whose name has been given to many New Zealand landmarks,[1] most notably Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). His people were known as Ngāi Tara,[2] although more recently they took the name Muaūpoko, meaning the people living at the head (ūpoko) of the fish ofMāui (that is, the southernmost end of theNorth Island.)
Muaūpoko's traditional area is in theHorowhenua/Kāpiti Coast/Wellington region. In the early nineteenth century Ngāi Tara were a large iwi occupying the area between theTararua Ranges in the east and theTasman Sea in the west, fromSinclair Head in the south to theRangitīkei River in the north. Somehapū[vague] had even settled inQueen Charlotte Sound in the 17th century.
According to the Horowhenua Commission of 1896, which inquired into theLake Horowhenua domain, the Muaūpoko were defeated after violent conflict withNgāti Toa andNgāti Raukawa from the north, and were almost exterminated.[3] They were driven into "the fastnesses of the hills", or forced to take refuge with theWhanganui and other tribes.[4] In the 2012New Zealand High Court case ofTaueki v Police, concerning a protest at Lake Horowhenua, Justice Kós stated that the "scars of that battle remain livid today."[5]
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