Rohe
The rohe of Te Whanau a Kai extends from the headwaters of the Waioeka river at Koranga Forks and Waimaha in the west,
to the Pipiwhākao stream opposite Matawhero in the south and to Pākohai in the east.
The traditional rohe of Te Whanau a Kai includes the land blocks of Pātutahi/Kaimoe, Pāpātū,
Rakaukaka (part), Repongaere, Tangihanga, Ōkahuatiu, Hangaroa-Matawai, Wharekopae,
Hῑhῑroroa and the Te Wera and Koranga parts of Tāhora No 2. We also have interests in Manuoha,
Pāpuni (or Waimaha), Mōtū, Takaputahi, Wharekopae, Te Tuhi and Tauwharetoi.
Our maunga is Ōkahuatiu.
The maunga is named after the hawks that are there and if you look at the maunga from a certain angle,
it resembles a hawk soaring in the sky. It is said that the ancestor Pakira lived in a pā in the vicinity of Ōkahuatiu.
Whakapapa
The iwi of Te Whānau a Kai are the many people who descend from Kai-kore-au-nei’s marriage to the sisters Te Haaki and Whareana.
Our mana whenua in the region was consolidated through the marriage of Paeko and Tūtemākoha,
the parents of Te Haaki and Whareana. The mana over the land is originally derived from Tui,
the grandson of Paraki, the first arrival in the region, and through Tupurupuru, who was of the senior line of Ngati Ruapani.
We hold the land through take tῑpuna (continuous occupation and ancestry). We have kept ahi kā roa (home fires burning) in the region since our lands were first settled.
Tui is an important ancestor from whom Te Whānau a Kai gain mana. He is the apical ancestor of the three older hapu of Ngati Maru,
Ngati Hine and Ngati Rua. These three hapu have since been absorbed into Te Whānau a Kai. Our other hapū are Ngāi Te Ika,
Ngāti Poki-nga-i-waho, Ngāti Whakahone, Ngāti Kohuru, Ngāti Wāhia and Ngai Tawhiri.
Kai-kore-au-nei’s marriage to the sisters Te Haaki and Whareana of the Rangi-a-niwaniwa branch of Ngati Maru is a well-recorded tradition.
Kai was the son of Te Ranginui-ā-Ihu and grandson of Māhaki. The people of Te Whānau a Kai did not inherit any of their land from Kai-kore-au-nei or from his grandfather Māhaki.
He did not bring any land to the marriage. The name “Kai-kore-au-nei” actually means "I am Kai who has nothing".
A notable descendant of Tui was Ruapani. He was chief over the lands of Tūranga and occupied near the coast.
The lands of Tui in the west and the lands of Ruapani in the east were distinct.
Ruapani was the paramount chief of Tūranga and after his time his mana lay with Tūpurupuru.
It was through Ruapani that Te Haaki and Whareana gained their mana whenua rights in the Repongaere,
Tangihanga, O-kahu-a-tiu and Pātutahi blocks. It was through Tui that the sisters gained their mana in the western part of our traditional rohe.
Our whakapapa from Paraki through to Te Haaki and Whareana is set out below:
The following whakapapa shows several descent lines to Te Haaki and Whareana, including their Ngariki lineage:
Over many centuries, our ancestors fought to maintain their mana whenua against other groups such as Ngati Ira of the Waioeka,
Te Whakatohea, Ngati Kahungunu, Tūhoe, Ngā Maihi, Te Aitanga ā Māhaki, Rongowhakaata, the British settlers and others.
We fought these groups all across our traditional rohe to maintain our authority and to maintain the resources that sustain us.
Marae and pa sites
Pākōwhai, Rongopai, Tākitimu and Ngātapa. Pākōwhai, Rongopai and Tākitimu are located in the Waituhi area on the western side of the Waipāoa river. The marae at Ngātapa has close associations with Tūhoe.
The prophet Te Kooti had ties to Te Whanau a Kai through whakapapa. The famous painted house 'Eriopeta', more commonly known today as Rongopai, was built in 1888 in anticipation of Te Kooti's return to Tūranga. However, his passage was denied and he never returned. Rongopai is the marae of the Wi Pere whānau. The whare was always regarded as being very tapu.
The Ngātapa marae represents the close links between Tūhoe and Te Whānau a Kai. The marae was built on land that was given by Te Whānau a Kai to Tūhoe. In 1913, land was originally given to Rua Kenana and the Tūhoe people by Heni Te Auraki, a Te Whānau a Kai chieftainess, but in 1917 the trustees of the block transferred the Tūhoe people to the O-kahu-a-tiu block. In 1918, Eria Raukura built a house there named “Te Ao Aotearoa". The Tūhoe people of the Ngātapa marae became known as Te Whānau ā Eria. The marae is still supported by Te Whānau a Kai.
Not far from this marae is the famous battle site and fortress of Ngātapa (the edges). It is a considerable distance from the present day marae. This is the original Ngātapa pā where Te Kooti and his whakarau were attacked and ultimately defeated by colonial forces and their Māori allies in December-January 1868-69. This battle is well-remembered but it is not so well-known that Ngātapa itself was a defended pā site which belonged to Te Whānau a Kai.
Mokonuiarangi marae was given as a place for Kahungungu and Tūhoe people working the lands in the south-west parts of the rohe. The old house was destroyed by fire. Te Rae o Taiha located near Mokonuiarangi was named after Te Pokingaiwaho’s grandson, Taiha. A settlement and cultivations were located there.
Pātutahi pā stood at the junction of the Waikakariki and the Waipaoa. It was a major Whānau a Kai settlement. According to some, Pātutahi pā was also known as Kaimoe and all the land in the vicinity of the Pātutahi pā was called Kaimoe. Five large carved meeting houses stood within its grounds. One of the houses was called Ngātōrea. It was named after a house of the same name that was built by Ngati Hine at Taumatawahine, the place where people of chiefly status were buried. Another of the houses was known as Tataiwahine. It was named after a house of the same name that had been built by Te Haaki and Whareana in Kai’s absence. He named it upon his return.
On the adjacent bank of the Waikakariki and the Waipaoa junction stood the whare wānanga Tokitoki, the first whare wānanga (house of learning) to be established in New Zealand. It was built by Tūpai, one of the tōhunga (priest) aboard the Takitimu waka. When the Takitimu arrived in Tūranga, Tūpai and Ruawharo made sacred fires in certain places in the district and these became tūahu (shrines) for the people. They were always kept tapu. Houses were built on or near these shrines.
There is a hill near Pātutahi called Tāramarama. This is where the tōhunga were trained to read the stars. An ancient pā called Tūranganui ō Maru was erected nearby and here agriculture and other pursuits were studied.
