Ngāti Kahungunu
Iwi (tribe) inMāoridom
Rohe (region)	Hawke’s Bay, andWairārapa regions
Waka (canoe)	Tākitimu
Population	82,239 (c. 2018)
Website	www.kahungunu.iwi.nz

Ngāti Kahungunu is aMāoriiwi located along the eastern coast of theNorth Island of New Zealand. The iwi is traditionally centred in theHawke's Bay andWairārapa regions. The Kahungunu iwi also comprises 86hapū (sub-tribes) and 90marae (meeting grounds).^[1]

The tribe is organised into six geographical and administrative divisions:Wairoa,Te Whanganui-ā-Orotū,Heretaunga,Tamatea,Tāmaki-nui-a Rua andWairarapa. It is the 4th largest iwi in New Zealand by population, with 82,239 people identifying as Ngāti Kahungunu in the2018 census.^[2]

Ngāti Kahungunu trace their origins to theTākitimu waka, one of theMāori migration canoes which arrived on New Zealand'sNorth Island around 1100–1200 AD, according to Ngāti Kahungunu traditions.^[3] According to local legend, Tākitimu and its crew were completelytapu. Its crew comprised men only: high chiefs, chiefs,tohunga and elite warriors. No cooked food was eaten before or during the voyage. The captain ofTākitimu wasTamatea Arikinui.^[4] He left thewaka atTauranga in theBay of Plenty^[4] or at Tūranga, near modern-dayGisborne, travelling overland until he arrived at Ahuriri (now part ofNapier) in theHawke's Bay Region.^{[citation needed]} The wakaTākitimu itself continued its voyage to theSouth Island under a new captain, Tahu Pōtiki, from whom the South Islandiwi ofNgāi Tahu takes its name.^[5]

According to oral history,Kahungunu was the great-grandson of Tamatea Arikinui and was born in present-dayKaitaia.^[1] It has been widely recounted that Kahungunu travelled extensively through theNorth Island during his early adulthood, eventually settling on the East Coast of the North Island. He married several times during his travels, and as a result there are many North Islandhapū that trace their lineage directly back to Kahungunu. Many of his marriages were arranged for diplomatic purposes, uniting various iwi against their enemies, forming bonds and securing peace. At some point, Kahungunu arrived atMāhia Peninsula, where he pursued and marriedRongomaiwahine, a woman from Nukutaurua who was a chief in her own right. She was famously beautiful, and according to legend had issued a challenge to Kahungunu, insulting his charismatic reputation and inviting him to prove himself worthy of her. Kahungunu accepted the challenge, murdered her husband and, after numerous trials, succeeded in obtaining Rongomaiwahine's consent to marry. The iwi Ngāti Kahungunu andNgāti Rongomaiwahine both descend from this marriage.

The eldest son of Kahungunu and Rongomaiwahine was namedKahukura-nui. His children included two sons,Rākei-hikuroa andRakai-pāka. Rākei-hikuroa wanted his favourite son Tū-purupuru to be pre-eminent chief over Ngāti Kahungunu. The twin sons of his nephew Kahutapere seemed to threaten this plan, so they were murdered. Kahutapere defeatedRakei-hikuroa at the Battle of Te Paepae o Rarotonga. After this, he led a migration of his families and followers from Nukutaurua on the Māhia Peninsula to Heretaunga, the region known today as Hawke's Bay. Accompanying Rākei-hikuroa from Māhia to Heretaunga was a son from one of his first marriage,Taraia. Not long after their arrival in Heretaunga, Taraia succeeded Rākei-hikuroa as the leader of their people, and he proved to be a proficient strategist in the struggle for dominance of the region, displacing the Whatumamoa,Rangitāne,Ngāti Awa, and elements of theNgāti Tara iwi, which lived in Petane, Te Whanganui-ā-Orotu and Waiohiki. Within Taraia's lifetime, Heretaunga was brought under the control of his people, who became the first of the Ngāti Kahungunu in that area.

The descendants of Rākei-hikuroa split into various hapū. Allegiances shifted, and Māori geopolitics in the region was largely played out as an internal struggle for dominance among the hapū of Ngāti Kahungunu, broken up by intermittent raids fromNgāti Porou and repeated attempts byNgāti Raukawa to settle in Heretaunga. Initially, the descendants of Rākei-hikuroa were divided between Te Hika a Ruarauhanga, the descendants of his first wife, and Te Hika a Pāpāuma, the descendants of his second. After four generations, this conflict was resolved, whenTe Whatuiāpiti of Pāpāuma marriedTe Huhuti, of Ruarauhanga. Their courtship is considered to be one of the great romances of Māori tradition. Subsequently, a new conflict arose between his descendants,Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti, and the descendants of Taraia,Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri.^[6] Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti settled in theKaimanawa ranges, but were driven out byNgāti Tūwharetoa in awar in the sixteenth of seventeenth centuries.

Over time, some Ngāti Kahungunu hapū settled in the Wairarapa region, finding a relatively peaceful existence there until the arrival of European settlers.

When Rākei-hikuroa departed for Heretaunga, Rakai-pāka and his sister Hinemanuhiri remained in the Gisborne area, but they were subsequently defeated in battle and migrated south to the northernHawke's Bay, where his descendants settled atNūhaka and became theNgāti Rakaipaaka hapū. Four generations later, their chiefTe Huki solidified the hapū's position throughout the region with a series of diplomatic marriages, a process referred to as "setting the net of Te Huki," but was killed byTe Whānau-ā-Apanui.^[7]

Hinemanuhiri's sonTama-te-rangi took control of theWairoa River valley from Ngāi Tauira and establishedNgāi Tamaterangi. The chiefKotore is said to have coined the name Ngāti Kahungunu in the next generation, shortly before he was killed in an attack led by Te Whānau-ā-Apanui. The west and east banks of the Wairoa were split between the brothersTapuwae Poharutanga o Tukutuku and Te Maaha, who fought one another, but were subsequently re-joined through intermarriage. In the late eighteenth century, their children, led byTe Kahu-o-te-rangi andTe-O-Tane, won a crushing victory over Te Whānau-ā-Apanui at the Battle of Whāwhāpō. After this, Ngāti Kahungunu's position in the northern Hawkes' Bay was secure. Later Te Kahu-o-te-rangi attempted to kill Te-O-Tane, but failed and they eventually reconciled.

In 1807, theMusket Wars broke out as chiefs from the northernNgāpuhi, now equipped with firearms, launched attacks on weaker tribes to the south. The ongoing conflict reached the east coast when, in 1822, aNgāti Tūwharetoa war party led byMananui Te Heuheu Tūkino II crossed into Ngāti Kahungunu territory.^[8] Armed with muskets, Te Heuheu had come to assist Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri in retaking their lost pā of Te Roto-a-Tara, a fortified island in Lake Roto-a-Tara near the present-day site ofTe Aute inHeretaunga. The pā had historically been an important strategic asset of Ngāti Te Ūpokoiri, but it had recently been occupied by Tangiteruru, aNgāti Porou chief who had invaded Heretaunga with the help ofNgāti Maru. After the arrival of Te Heuheu's war party, Tangiteruru abandoned the pā. However it was swiftly reoccupied byTe Pareihe, a young chief of Ngāti Te Whatuiāpiti. Te Heuheu laid siege to the pā but failed to capture it.^[8] After his brother was killed in a skirmish at nearby Waimarama, Te Heuheu abandoned his siege of Roto-a-Tara and raided the pā at Waimarama instead. Following this, he returned to Ngāti Tuwharetoa to regroup and prepare for a second assault on Te Roto-a-Tara. Returning weeks later, Te Heuheu was joined by aNgāti Raukawa war party led byTe Whatanui,^[9] and together they devised a plan to assault the island fortress. They constructed a causeway enabling them to make the crossing from the shore of the lake to Te Roto-a-Tara pā.Te Pareihe commanded such a strong resistance in the ensuing battle that Te Heuheu and Te Whatanui were thrown back in total defeat, with the loss of over 500 chiefs. Te Pareihe abandoned Te Roto-a-Tara after the battle and moved toPōrangahau.^[10]

Although he had beaten back a superior force at Te Roto-a-Tara, Te Pareihe knew that the defence of Heretaunga was unsustainable without the advantage of firearms. He and fellow Ngāti Kahungunu chiefTiakitai forged an alliance withTe Wera Hauraki, a chief from Ngāpuhi who had settled on theMāhia Peninsula.^[11] Together, their forces retook Te Roto-a-Tara pā from Ngāi Te Upokoiri, who had occupied the fortress island after Te Pareihe escaped to Pōrangahau. But when news reached the alliance that a huge coalition ofWaikato and Tūwharetoa warriors were amassing to attack Heretaunga, Te Wera agreed to protect Te Pareihe and the Ngāti Kahungunu at his fortress settlement in Māhia. Hence, in late 1823, Te Pareihe led an exodus of Ngāti Kahungunu refugees from Heretaunga to Māhia, setting off from the beach at Waimarama. Some chiefs, such as Kurupo Te Moananui,Te Hapuku, and Tiakitai, remained in Heretaunga, but most joined the exodus.^[12] By the late 1830s hostilities had ended and the Ngāti Kahungunu diaspora began returning to Heretaunga.

In 1840 a number of Ngāti Kahungunu chiefs were signatories to theTreaty of Waitangi.

The spread of European settlement eventually reached Ngāti Kahungunu territory, and led to the rapid acquisition of Māori land byThe Crown during the 1850s and 1860s. Chiefs from theHeretaunga area, such asTe Hapuku andHenare Tomoana lost significant areas of land in sales that have since been labelled "extortionate," and which later became matters of dispute and protest. The loss of land during this period led to the emergence of the Repudiation Movement, a coalition of Ngāti Kahungunu leaders who sought to halt the rapidity of land loss in the region, and to dispute past sales.^[13]

In 1868 theEastern Maori electorate was established in theNew Zealand Parliament to provide parliamentary representation for Māori in the east of the North Island, an area encompassing Ngāti Kahungunu. The first representatives for the electorate were Ngāti Kahungunu chiefsTāreha Te Moananui (1868–1871),Karaitiana Takamoana (1871–1879), andHenare Tomoana (1879–1881).^[14] The effectiveness of Māori parliamentary representation during this period was hampered by a lack of fluent English on the part of the elected Māori representatives, and by a lack of confidence in the European parliamentary system itself, which was seen as incapable of protecting Māori interests. As a result, theKotahitanga movement emerged in the 1890s to advocate for the establishment of an independent Māori parliament. It convened parliamentary style meetings at Pāpāwai Marae inWairārapa and at Waipatu inHeretaunga, where key issues of importance for Māori were debated. However, by 1902Te Kotahitanga had failed to gain recognition from theNew Zealand Parliament and was therefore dissolved in favour of local Māori Councils, which were established in 1900.

At the outset of the 20th century, a new generation of Māori leaders were beginning to participate in the Ngāti Kahungunu political landscape.Te Aute College had opened in 1854 nearHastings, and in the 1880s and 1890s it was attended byĀpirana Ngata,Māui Pōmare,Te Rangi Hīroa (Sir Peter Buck), andParaire Tomoana. In 1897 they formed the Te Aute College Students' Association and became active participants in public life, often mediating betweenthe Crown andhapū in matters of local land management. In 1909 the group was joined byJames Carroll and became known as theYoung Māori Party.^[15]Hukarere Girls’ College andSt Joseph's Māori Girls' College were also established within the region.

When theFirst World War broke out in 1914, a number of Māori leaders responded by committing the support of their respectivehapū andiwi. Alumni of theYoung Māori Party, some of whom were now parliamentarians, were generally in favour of Māori enlistment and were involved in recruitment campaigns.Āpirana Ngata andMāui Pōmare were the most aggressive proponents of Māori enlistment, and in Ngāti Kahungunu they received the support ofParaire Tomoana, who was the son of the chiefHenare Tomoana. Tomoana worked with Ngata to drive Māori recruitment campaigns both within Ngāti Kahungunu and throughout other areas of the North Island.

Many men from Ngāti Kahungunu were among the Māori who enlisted for war. They were organised into theNew Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion. The battalion participated in theGallipoli campaign in 1915 and theWestern Front between 1916 and 1918.^[16] In January 1918Paraire Tomoana published the words ofE Pari Ra, a piece written for soldiers lost in battle. After the war this tune was adopted by theRoyal New Zealand Navy as their official slow march. Other songs composed by Tomoana wereTahi nei taru kino,I runga o ngā puke,Hoki hoki tonu mai,Hoea rā te waka nei,Pōkarekare ana, and the hakaTika tonu.^[17] The songs have since become treasured anthems of Ngāti Kahungunu, and in some cases were adopted by other iwi due to their wartime popularity.

After the outbreak of theSecond World War in 1939, many men from Ngāti Kahungunu again enlisted and fought overseas, primarily with the28th (Māori) Battalion. Soldiers from the Ngāti Kahungunu region were generally organised into 'D' Company of the battalion, along with men fromWaikato, Maniapoto,Wellington and theSouth Island. Additionally, 'D' Company also consisted of some soldiers from the Pacific Islands, and from theChatham Islands andStewart Island. The battalion fought in theGreek,North African andItalian campaigns, during which it earned a formidable reputation as an extremely effective fighting force. It was also the most decorated New Zealand battalion of the war. Following the end of hostilities, the battalion contributed a contingent of personnel to serve inJapan as part of theBritish Commonwealth Occupation Force, before it was disbanded in January 1946.^[18]Wiremu Te Tau Huata was a well known officer from Ngāti Kahungunu, having served as theMāori Battalion's military chaplain.^[19]

By 1946 only a small percentage of land in the Ngāti Kahungunu region had been retained by Māori, and the traditional agrarian communities at the core of Māori society were beginning to break down as returned servicemen found employment and settled in urban areas, such asWairoa,Napier,Hastings, andMasterton. By the year 1966, 70% of Māori men (throughout New Zealand in general) were now working in urban employment centres, particularly freezing works, sawmills, the transport industry (including road maintenance), the construction industry, and various types of factory work.^[20] In Hawke's Bay, thousands of Māori worked at the Whakatu and Tomoana freezing works sites, near Hastings. However the regional economy and well-being of the Māori community was profoundly impacted when both plants closed; Whakatu in 1986 and Tomoana in 1994.^[21]

The iwi contains a total of 86hapū. For administrative purposes they can be divided into sixtaiwhenua (regions), from north to south: Wairoa, Te Whanganui-a-Orotū, Heretaunga, Tamatea, Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua, and Wairarapa. Several hapū are found in multipletaiwhenua.^[22]

Wairoa is roughly equivalent to theWairoa District, containing the area south of the Wharerata Ranges atPoverty Bay, including theWairoa River and theMāhia Peninsula. There are twenty-six hapū:^[22]

Te Whanganui-a-Orotū covers the area roughly from theMohaka River down to theNgaruroro River (i.e. the northern part ofHastings District plusNapier). There are fifteen hapū:^[22]

Heretaunga is roughly equivalent to the part ofHastings District south of the Ngaruroro River, includingHastings. There are twenty-sevenhapū:^[22]

Tamatea is roughly equivalent toCentral Hawke's Bay District. There are eighteen hapū:^[22]

Tāmaki nui-ā-Rua is roughly equivalent toTararua District (i.e. the northern half ofWairarapa. It contains seven hapū:^[22]

Wairarapa covers the rest of the Wairarapa, down to theCook Strait. It contains twenty-five hapū:^[22]

In 1988, Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Kahungunu Incorporated was established as a centralised organisation responsible for iwi development, but it went into receivership in 1994. The organisation re-emerged with a new constitution in 1996 under the name Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated (NKII). An election was held in 1997, resulting in the establishment of an elected board of trustees and a new mandate to govern iwi development.^[23] Elections are held every three years, and all adults with awhakapapa link to ahapū of Ngāti Kahungunu are eligible to vote. The chairperson of the board of trustees usually represents the iwi in political affairs.

In accordance with the constitution of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Inc, the board of trustees consists of tentangata whenua representatives:^[24]

• One representative is elected within each of the six geographic and administrative divisions of the Ngāti Kahungunu area:Wairoa,Te Whanganui-ā-Orotū,Heretaunga,Tamatea,Tāmaki-nui-a Rua andWairarapa. The constitution requires that a candidate for election to any of these positions must already be an elected board member of theTaiwhenua (local governing body) of the respective geographical subdivision.
• Two representatives are elected at large by registered members of Ngāti Kahungunu who reside outside of the Ngāti Kahungunu region. This electorate is referred to in the constitution as theTaurahere Rūnanga. Candidates for election to these positions must have awhakapapa link to ahapū of Ngāti Kahungunu.
• One representative is elected as akaumātua; a respected elder of theiwi who is proficient in Ngāti Kahungunutikanga, kawa (traditional legal protocols), andreo. This representative is elected directly to the board by otherkaumātua of Ngāti Kahungunu.
• One representative is elected at large by the iwi membership to the chair of the board of trustees. To be eligible for this position, the candidate must already be an elected board member of aTaiwhenua of one of the geographical subdivisions of the iwi. In addition, the candidate must be proficient in Ngāti Kahungunutikanga, kawa, andreo. As a special provision, if the incumbent chairperson's term as a board member of aTaiwhenua expires during their tenure as chair of the iwi board, it does not disqualify them from seeking re-election.

The board employs a General Manager and staff, which oversees the operational affairs of the iwi organisation. General Managers have includedLabour member of parliamentMeka Whaitiri. An asset holding company was also established in 2005 to manage the iwi's investment portfolio.^[25] The company's directors include former rugby playerTaine Randell.

When Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Kahungunu Incorporated was established in 1988, its first chairperson wasPita Sharples. By 1994 a rapid succession of other chairpeople had led the organisation, while severe disharmony between board members was increasingly hampering the board's effectiveness.^[26] As a result, a case was brought to theHigh Court of New Zealand, where the dysfunctionality of the board was given as evidence of the need for the court to intervene. The court placed Te Rūnanganui o Ngāti Kahungunu Incorporated into receivership, and placed it under the jurisdiction of theMāori Land Court.^[27][28]

After the creation of a new constitution, the period of receivership ended and in 1996 the organisation was renamed Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. The first election for the new board took place in March 1997. Ngahiwi Tomoana of Heretaunga and Toro Waka of Te Whanganui-ā-Orotū were elected chairman and deputy chairman respectively.^[29]

While NKII is the mandated iwi organisation (MIO) in charge of iwi development and overseeing the fisheries settlement it received in 2004, Ngāti Kahungunu have settled their Treaty settlements of historical grievances on a hapu basis. Because of this, Ngāti Kahungunu has seven separate entities that have (or are in the process of) received their Treaty settlements to govern for their respective affiliate hapu and whanau. This is contrary to a centralised iwi entity that has more power than its hapu/hapu collectives.

Radio Kahungunu is the official station of Ngāti Kahungunu. It began asTairawhiti Polytechnic training station Te Toa Takitini 2XY, making two short-term broadcasts on 1431 AM in December 1988, and October and November 1989.^[30] It was relaunched in 1990 as Radio Kahungunu 2XT, sharing the 765 AM frequency with Hawke's Bay's Racing Radio and Radio Pacific.^[31] It began broadcasting full-time in late 1991, moved dedicated studios at Stortford Lodge in the late 1990s, and began an FM simulcast on 4 September 2000. It broadcasts fromHastings, and is available on94.3FM and765AM inHawkes Bay.^[32]

• Maniaiti Marae

• Mitchell, J. H. (2014).Takitimu: A History of Ngati Kahungunu. Libro International.ISBN 978-1-877514-72-2.
• Parsons, Patrick (1997).WAI 400: The Ahuriri Block: Maori Customary Interests(PDF). Retrieved10 July 2022.

• Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated website: Contains information on registering for the Iwi and lyrics to some of their songs, includingPōkarekare Ana.
• Whaanga, Mere (21 December 2006)."Ngāti Kahungunu". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Archived fromthe original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved5 April 2007.

• Ngāti Kahungunu

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