| Ngāti Pāoa | |
|---|---|
| Iwi (tribe) inMāoridom | |
 Hauraki Gulf | |
 | |
| Rohe (region) | Hauraki |
| Waka (canoe) | Tainui |
Ngāti Pāoa is aMāoriiwi (tribe) that has extensive links to the Hauraki and Waikato tribes ofNew Zealand. Its traditional lands stretch from the western side of theHauraki Plains to Auckland. They also settled onHauraki Gulf islands such asWaiheke.[1]
Ngāti Pāoa is one of five tribes of theMarutūāhu confederation, the others beingNgāti Maru,Ngāti Rongoū,Ngāti Tamaterā andNgāti Whanaunga. The Marutūāhu tribes are all descended from Marutūāhu, a son of Hotunui, who is said to have arrived in New Zealand on theTainui canoe. The Marutūāhu tribes are therefore part of theTainui group of tribes. The Marutūāhu confederation is also part of theHauraki collective of tribes.[2]
Ngāti Pāoa are descended fromPāoa. His story is woven into the history of Tainui waka, and of the Waikato and Hauraki tribes with enduring links to the Te Arawa tribe through the deeds of his grandfatherPikiao. From his previous mariages in his Te Arawa homeland Pikiao's wife had a daughter but could not fulfil his wish for a son to carry his mana forward. He left home when he heard of the charms of a wahine in Waikato. It was in the Pirongia area that Pikiao married Rereiao a high-bornWaikato woman descended fromWhatihua.[3][4] His wishes were fulfilled when Rereiao gave him a son Hekemaru who later married Hekeiterangi. They then had two sons,ko Mahuta raua ko Pāoa, he tuakana, he teina (the elder and younger brother), their elder sister Paretahuri was themataamua of the whanau (the first born of the family).Ngāti Mahuta are descended[3][4] from Mahuta. Pāoa lived with his first wife Tauhākari, sons Toapoto and Toawhana, and daughter Koura at Kaitotehe, nearTaupiri in thecentral Waikato. Pāoa moved from Kaitotehe to Hauraki, where he married Tukutuku, a granddaughter ofTamaterā, with whom he had sons, Tipa and Horowhenua.
Pāoa and Tukutuku's children lived in and around the Hauraki Plains. Ngāti Pāoa later spread to the western side of theFirth of Thames, from where they also frequented theHunua Ranges. By the 1700s they also frequented theTāmaki (Auckland) isthmus, theNorth Shore and the eastern and northernCoromandel Peninsula.[5]
In about 1780 Ngāti Pāoa established settlements along the western side of theTamaki River and at Mokoia (present-dayPanmure). In 1790 and from 1793 to 1798 they engaged in many battles with tribes to the north, at least as far as the Mahurangi district. By 1805 they were tiring of war and negotiated peace settlements with many neighbouring tribes. At this time they had settlements along the Tamaki River as far asŌtāhuhu.[5]
In May 2018 the tribe supported theNgāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei tribe, in their legal case in theSupreme Court.[6]
In December 2018 theMāori Land Court ordered the Ngāti Paoa Iwi Trust and the Ngati Paoa Trust Board, who were contesting control of Ngāti Paoa affairs, into mediation over deciding who should represent the tribe in Resource Management Act and local government matters.[7]
