Rongowhakaata is a

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. ...

of the

Gisborne region Gisborne District or the Gisborne Region (Māori: ''Te Tairāwhiti'' or ''Te Tai Rāwhiti'') is a local government area of northeastern New Zealand. It is governed by Gisborne District Council, a unitary authority (with the combined powers of ...

of New Zealand.

Hapū and marae

There are three primary ''

hapū In Māori language, Māori and New Zealand English, a ' ("subtribe", or "clan") functions as "the basic political unit within Māori society". A Māori person can belong to or have links to many hapū. Historically, each hapū had its own chief ...

'' (subtribes) of Rongowhakaata today: Ngāti Kaipoho, Ngāi Tawhiri and Ngāti Maru.

Ngāti Kaipoho

Ngāti Kaipoho descend from Kaipoho, the son of Whare (also known as Whare-rau-o-te-tahinga) and great-grandson of Rongomairatahi. Kaipoho built Tapui Pā on the west bank of

Te Arai River The Te Ārai River is a river of the Gisborne Region of New Zealand's North Island. It flows generally north from its origins in rough hill country north of Nūhaka before veering northeast past the township of Manutuke to reach the Waipaoa Riv ...

, he also had a fishing settlement at Te Kowhai, near pakirikiri (what is now known as "Browns Beach"). Kaipoho was killed in battle and later avenged by his son Te Aweawe, who took over Tapui Pā. Ngāti Kaipoho at one time fought against Ngāti Maru and caused Ngāti Maru's exodus from Waiapu, where they had lived for a time. The Marae of Ngāti Kaipoho And Ngāti Aweawe today is called Manutuke marae which is situated on the Manutuke 1, C, E4 blocks. There are two meeting houses situated on Manutuke Marae Te Poho o Rukupo, and Te Poho o Epeha The marae received a makeover in a 2006 episode of the

Māori Television 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 ...

reality TV show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

Marae DIY. The show's creator and co-creator Nevak Ilolahia Rogers, has Rongowhakaata ancestry.

Ngāi Tāwhiri

Ngāi Tāwhiri are descended from Rongomairatahi through the three children of his granddaughter, Rongomaimihiao. Rongomaimihiao had two sons, Tawhirimatea and Tutekiki, and a daughter Materoa. The hapū has two marae: Ohako marae on which stands the house named Te Kiko o te Rangi in Manutuke, and Te Kurī a Tuatai marae, Whareroa meeting house and Awapuni Pā in Gisborne.

Te Puni Kōkiri Te Puni Kōkiri (TPK, also called in English the Ministry of Māori Development) is the principal policy advisor of the Government of New Zealand on Māori people, Māori wellbeing and development. Te Puni Kōkiri was established under the Māor ...

recognises two hapū which share marae with Ngāi Tāwhiri: * Ruapani hapū, which shares Ohako and Te Kurī a Tuatai marae * Te Whānau a Iwi, which shares Te Kurī a Tuatai marae

Ngāti Maru

Ngāti Maru of Turanga trace their descent from Tapuhere and Tahatuoterangi. The tribal name is taken from Te Papa o Maruwhakatipua, a place where the chief named Uenuku once lived at a house called Te Poho o Maru. Taharakau, a famous chief of Ngati Maru, was known for his proverbial sayings. Ngāti Maru is not related to other tribes with the same name in Hauraki and Taranaki. The hapū has two marae in Manutuke. One marae is called Pāhou, and includes Te Poho o Taharakau meeting house. The other is named Whakato, and includes Te Mana o Turanga meeting house.

Governance

Rongowhakaata Iwi Trust manages the tribe's

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 ...

settlement under the Rongowhakaata Claims Settlement Act. It also represents the iwi under the Māori Fisheries Act and Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act, and is the iwi authority for resource consent consultation under the Resource Management Act. The charitable trust is governed by one trustee from each of the five marae and three iwi elected trustees and is chaired by Moera Brown. The tribal area of the iwi is in the territory of

Gisborne District Council Gisborne District Council () is the unitary authority for the Gisborne District of New Zealand. The council consists of a mayor and 13 ward councillors. The district consists of the city of Gisborne and a largely rural region on the east coast ...

, which performs of the function of both a district and regional council.

About

The ancestor called Rongowhakaata came to the Tūranga region from further north, Ūawa (

Tolaga Bay Tolaga Bay () is both a bay and small town on the East Coast, New Zealand, East Coast of New Zealand's North Island located 45 kilometres northeast of Gisborne, New Zealand, Gisborne and 30 kilometres south of Tokomaru Bay. The region around th ...

). He had three wives Tūrāhiri, Uetūpuke and Moetai. The son of Rongowhakaata and Tūāhiri is Rongomairātahi. The iwi describes the name Rongowhataata in the book that accompanies their Iwi-in-Residence exhibition at New Zealand's national museum

Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand a ...

(2017-2020). "It combines 'rongo', to open the senses, with 'whakaata' to show or reflect - describing the transition of thought to form: the elements of creation." Central to the Rongowhakaata Iwi-In-Residence exhibition is the carved meeting house Te Hau ki Tūranga, which after 150 years was returned to the iwi from the Crown in the Rongowhakaata Treaty claim in 2011.

Media

Turanga FM

Turanga FM is the radio station of

Turanganui-a-kiwa Poverty Bay (Māori language, Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa''), officially named Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay, is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for ...

iwi, including Rongowhakaata,

Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki is one of the three principal Māori people, Māori iwi of the Gisborne District, Tūranga district; the others being Rongowhakaata and Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Ngai Tamanuhiri. It is numerically the largest of the three, with 6, ...

and

Ngāi Tāmanuhiri Ngāi Tāmanuhiri is a Māori iwi of New Zealand and were formerly known by the name of Ngai Tahu, and Ngai Tahu-po respectively. They are descendants of Tahu-nui (also known as Tahu potiki, or Tahu matua) who is also the eponymous ancestor of ...

. It is based in Gisborne, and broadcasts on in

Ruatoria Ruatoria () is a town in the Waiapu Valley of the Gisborne Region in the northeastern corner of New Zealand's North Island. The town was originally known as Cross Roads then Manutahi and was later named Ruatorea in 1913, after the Māori Mast ...

, and and in Gisborne.

References

External links

Official iwi website
{{Iwi Gisborne District Iwi and hapū