Muriwhenua are a group of northern

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

, based in Te Hiku o te Ika, the northernmost part of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. It consists of six iwi,

Ngāti Kurī Ngāti Kurī is a Māori people, Māori iwi from Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the five Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kurī trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Pōhurihanga, the ca ...

Ngāi Takoto Ngāi Takoto is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāi Takoto trace their whakapapa (ancestry) back to Tuwhakatere, and trace their arrival in New Zealand to ...

Te Pātū Te Pātū is a Māori iwi from Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Te Pātū trace their ancestry back to Tuwhakatere, and their arrival in New Zealand to the Kurahaupo canoe. ...

Ngāti Kahu Ngāti Kahu is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. Ngāti Kahu take their name from their founding ancestress, Kahutianui, and link their ancestry back to the wa ...

Te Aupōuri Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost Māori iwi (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the Te Hiku o te Ika. The iwi is one of the six Muriwhenua iwi of the far north of the North Island. The ...

and

Te Rarawa Te Rarawa is a Māori iwi of Northland, New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New ...

, with a combined population of about 34,000 people. The spiritually significant

Hokianga The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long Estuary, estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. The original name, still used by local Mā ...

Harbour, located just to the south of the

Maungataniwha Range The Maungataniwha Range is a volcanic mountain range located in Northland Region of New Zealand. The Mangamukas, as it is known by the local residents and many Northlanders because of the name of the settlement and river on the southern side, sepa ...

, is of special significance to the Muriwhenua people. The name ''Muriwhenua'' means "end of the land", describing the

rohe The Māori people of New Zealand use the word ' to describe the territory or boundaries of tribes (, although some divide their into several . Background In 1793, chief Tuki Te Terenui Whare Pirau who had been brought to Norfolk Island drew ...

(traditional tribal lands) of the iwi, extending up the

North Auckland Peninsula The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā ...

from the Maungataniwha Range to

Cape Reinga Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua (; sometimes spelled Rēinga, ) is the northwestern most tip of the Aupōuri Peninsula, at the northern end of the North Island of New Zealand. Cape Reinga is more than 100 km north of the nearest small town ...

. The name ''Te Hiku o te Ika'' translates as the tail of the fish, meaning the end of the

, which in

Māori mythology Māori mythology and Māori traditions are two major categories into which the remote oral history of New Zealand's Māori people, Māori may be divided. Māori myths concern tales of supernatural events relating to the origins of what was the ...

is the fish

Māui Māui or Maui is the great culture hero and trickster in Polynesian mythology. Very rarely was Māui actually worshipped, being less of a deity ( demigod) and more of a folk hero. His origins vary from culture to culture, but many of his main expl ...

caught (known as ''Te-Ika-a-Māui'', or literally ''The Fish of Māui''. Elders sometimes say the head of the fish is the New Zealand capital city of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, but it can only go where the tail will allow.

History

Early history

According to Muriwhenua tradition, the great

waka WAKA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Selma, Alabama, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Montgomery area. It is owned by Bahakel Communications alongside Tuskegee-licensed CW+ affiliate WBMM (channel 22); B ...

navigator

Kupe Kupe was a legendary Polynesian explorer who, according to Māori oral history, was the first person to discover New Zealand. He is generally held to have been born to a father from Rarotonga and a mother from Raiatea, and probably spoke a ...

discovered the region, mistaking Houhora mountain, north of

Kaitaia Kaitaia () is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupōuri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on State Highway 1. Ahipara Bay, the southern end of Te Oneroa-a- ...

, for a whale. The crew of his waka explored from

Parengarenga Harbour Parengarenga Harbour is a natural harbour close to the northernmost point on the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the northern end of the Aupōuri Peninsula, it extends inland for over 10 kilometres, almost severing the northern tip of ...

, including

Karikari Peninsula The Karikari Peninsula on the east coast of the far north of Northland, New Zealand, is between Rangaunu Harbour to the west, and Doubtless Bay to the southeast. It is a right-angled land mass of two relatively distinct parts. The rocky north ...

Tokerau Beach Tokerau Beach is a settlement on the northwestern side of Doubtless Bay on the Karikari Peninsula of Northland, New Zealand. Demographics Statistics New Zealand describes Tokerau Beach as a rural settlement. It covers and had an estimated po ...

Whangaroa Harbour Whangaroa Harbour (; ), previously spelled Wangaroa Harbour, is an inlet on the northern coast of Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Whangaroa Bay and the Pacific Ocean are to the north. The small settlements of Totara North and Saies ...

and

Matauri Bay Matauri Bay () is a bay in New Zealand, situated 30 km north of Kerikeri, in Whangaroa county, just north of the Bay of Islands. It has over a kilometre of white sand and crystal clear water, making it a popular summer destinations for surf ...

. According to one tradition, he followed a current to Hakarara mountain in Matauri Bay. According to another, he landed in Hokianga Harbour, and on his return to

Hawaiki (also rendered as in the Cook Islands, Hawaiki in Māori, in Samoan, in Tahitian, in Hawaiian) is, in Polynesian folklore, the original home of the Polynesians, before dispersal across Polynesia. It also features as the underworld in man ...

, created waves which reached the coast of Ninety Mile Beach. The chief Tūmatahina is credited with helping the Muriwhenua people escape a besieged village as they were running out of food. He instructed his people to place dummy warriors, made out of bulrushes, around the pallisades of their ''

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori people, Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive :wikt:terrace, terraces – and also to fo ...

'' (fortification), fix a long flax rope to a rock on the mainland, and use it to escape. Tūmatahina followed at the rear of the group, and used his large footprints to hide the footprints of the other people, concealing the escape from the enemy. The ''kūaka'' (

bar-tailed godwit The bar-tailed godwit (''Limosa lapponica'') is a large and strongly migratory wader in the family Scolopacidae, which feeds on bristle-worms and shellfish on coastal mudflats and estuaries. It has distinctive red breeding plumage, long legs, ...

) is the symbol of the tribes; their annual migration from the Muriwhenua harbours represents the successful escape. Later, the Whangape chief Ueoneone travelled to

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

, where he fell in love with the sisters

Reitū and Reipae Reitū and Reipae (or Reipare) were twin sisters from the Tainui confederation of Māori tribes in Waikato, New Zealand, who lived before European settlement. Tainui tradition remembers them for the story of Reitū's courtship by Ue-oneone and for ...

and proposed to marry them. On her way north, Reipae fell in love with a chief named Ōtāhuhupōtiki and married him; their harbour became Te Whanga-a-Reipae (the harbour of Reipae), which was shortened to

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the largest settlement of the Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, created in 1989 from the former Whangarei City, Whangarei County and Hikurangi Town councils to admi ...

. Reitū married Ueoneone at Whangape; their twin daughters Kauae and Tawakeiti married Tūpoto, a common ancestor of all Northland tribes.

Colonisation

In 1840, 61 chiefs from Muriwhenua signed the Māori language version of the

Treaty of Waitangi The Treaty of Waitangi (), sometimes referred to as ''Te Tiriti'', is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand, Constitution of New Zealand, its constitution, and its national mythos. It has played a major role in the tr ...

, in the hopes it would protect their lands from

colonisation 475px, Map of the year each country achieved List of sovereign states by date of formation, independence. Colonization (British English: colonisation) is a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples f ...

. However, the Muriwhenua people lost vast areas of land to settlers or the government. A report into Muriwhenua fisheries rights in 1988 led to the passing of the

Māori Fisheries Act As with other countries, New Zealand's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone gives its fishing industry special fishing rights. It covers 4.1 million square kilometres. This is the sixth largest zone in the world, and is fourteen times the l ...

in 1992. Since 1994, the tribes have settled land claims with the

New Zealand Government The New Zealand Government () is the central government through which political authority is exercised in New Zealand. As in most other parliamentary democracies, the term "Government" refers chiefly to the executive branch, and more specifica ...

through the

Waitangi Tribunal The Waitangi Tribunal (Māori: ''Te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti o Waitangi'') is a New Zealand permanent commission of inquiry established under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. It is charged with investigating and making recommendations on c ...

Communications

Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, an iwi radio station, serves the Muriwhenua tribes. It broadcasts a main station on , an

urban contemporary Urban contemporary music, also known as urban music, urban pop, or just simply urban, is a music radio format. The term was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music. Urban contemporary r ...

station Sunshine FM on and a youth-oriented station Tai FM.

Notable people

Hone Harawira Hone Pani Tamati Waka Nene Harawira is a New Zealand Māori activist and former parliamentarian. He was elected to parliament as the member for the Māori electorate of Te Tai Tokerau in 2005 as the Māori Party candidate. In 2011, following ...

, activist, politician and community leader *

Hector Busby Sir Hector Busby (1 August 1932 – 11 May 2019), also known as Heke-nuku-mai-nga-iwi Puhipi and Hec Busby, was a New Zealand Māori navigator and traditional waka builder. He was recognised as a leading figure in the revival of traditional ...

, navigator and

builder *

Tina Cross Tina Marie Cross (born 27 January 1959) is a New Zealand singer. She sang the winning entry in the 1979 Pacific Song Contest, and was the lead vocalist of synthpop band, Koo De Tah, whose single " Too Young for Promises" was a top ten hit in Au ...

, entertainer *

Whina Cooper Dame Whina Cooper (born Hōhepine Te Wake; 9 December 1895 – 26 March 1994) was a New Zealand ( Māori elder), who worked for many years for the rights of her people, and particularly to improve the lot of Māori women. She is remembered for ...

, community leader *

Mitch Evans Mitchell William Evans (born 24 June 1994) is a New Zealand professional racing driver. He currently (since 2016) drives for the Jaguar Racing, Jaguar TCS Racing team in Formula E. In 2012, he won the GP3 Series and he raced in the GP2 Serie ...

, racing car driver * Anahera Herbert-Graves, Māori leader *

Ralph Hotere Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere (11 August 1931 – 24 February 2013) was a New Zealand artist. He was born in Mitimiti, Northland Region, Northland and is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important artists. In 1994 he was award ...

, artist * Margaret Mutu, academic *

Shane Jones Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician and a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives for the New Zealand First party. Jones' political career began in 2005 as a list MP for the Labour Party. He b ...

, politician *

Stacey Jones Stacey William Jones (born 7 May 1976) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He is currently the head coach of New Zealand national rugby league te ...

, rugby league player *

Anika Moa Anika Rose Moa (born 21 May 1980) is a New Zealand recording artist and television presenter. Her debut studio album ''Thinking Room'', was released in September 2001, which reached number one on the Official New Zealand Music Chart, New Z ...

, recording artist *

Māmari Stephens Māmari Stephens (born 1970) is a law academic best known for her work creating ''He Papakupu Reo Ture: A Dictionary of Māori Legal Terms'', a Māori-English a bi-lingual dictionary of legal terms. She identifies as being of Te Rarawa and Ngā ...

, lecturer *

Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia Meri may refer to: * Meri (name) * Meri (mythology), folk hero in Bororo mythology *Meri, term in shakuhachi A is a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Ja ...

, Māori suffragist

References

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