He kōrero nā Mere Whaanga

Te āhua nui: Carved storehouse doorway

Te rohe whenua

Ko Ngāti Kahungunu te tuatoru o ngā iwi nui rawa o Aotearoa. Ka totoro te rohe atu i Te Māhia ki Te Mātakitaki-a-Kupe (Cape Palliser). E toru ngā wehenga o te rohe: Ko Te Wairoa, ko Heretaunga, ko Te Wairarapa (ki te taha raki o Te Whanganui-a-Tara).

Ngā tīpuna

Taketake mai ai te iwi i te waka i aTākitimu. Nā Tamatea Arikinui i ārahi te waka i Hawaiki. Ka moe a Rongokako i a Muriwhenua, ka puta tā rāua tama, ko Tamatea Ure Haea.

I whānau mai a Kahungunu, te tama a Tamatea Ure Haea ki Kaitāia. He rangatira kaha, whai mana ia. Waihangatia ai e Kahungunu ngā kāinga, keria ai e ia ngā hāwai. I tana haerenga ki te tonga, ka moea e ia āna wāhine, ka whānau mai āna tamariki tokomaha. Kia tae ia ki Te Māhia, ka whakamatea e ia te tāne a Rongomaiwahine, e riro mai ai taua wahine rangatira hei wahine māna. Ka puta ngā tātai rangatira o te iwi i tēnei hononga.

Ngā pānga ki te Pākehā

Nō te taenga o te Pākehā ka tīmata tana hoko pū ki te Māori. Nā ngā whakaekenga mau pū o iwi kē, ka rere mōrehu ngā iwi o Heretaunga ki Te Māhia.

I te tekau tau atu i 1830 kua tūtū ngā teihana hopu tohorā. Ka tahuri te iwi ki ngā mahi ahuwhenua me te whakatipu kai. Ahakoa i haina ētahi rangatira o Ngāti Kahungunu i te Tiriti o Waitangi i te tau 1840, ka riro tonu i ngā tāngata whai te nuinga o ōna whenua papatipu.

Ko te pā o Pāpāwai ki Te Wairarapa i tū i ōna rā hei whare wānanga mō te iwi, hei tūranga hoki mō te paremata Māori. Inā te nui o ngā huihuinga i whakaritea e te kaitōrangapū whai rawa e Tamahau Mahupuku ki Pāpāwai. Ina haere ia ki te tāone, ka arahina ia e tana pēne paraihe whakatangitangi.

Ngāti Kahungunu i ēnei rā

I te tau 2013, e 61,000 ngā tāngata o te iwi, e 86 ngā marae kei raro i ngā whakaritenga a Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi Incorporated. Ko ētahi o ngā kaupapa a te iwi, ko Te Reo Irirangi o Kahungunu me Te Whare Tapere Māori. Kua puta nei te rongo mō Te Whare Tapere ki te ao.