Te Aupōuri is the second northernmost

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. ...

(tribal group), located 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- ...

, Northland, New Zealand, a region known as the

Te Hiku o te Ika Muriwhenua are a group of northern Māori iwi, based in Te Hiku o te Ika, the northernmost part of New Zealand's North Island. It consists of six iwi, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, with a combined ...

. The iwi is one of the six

Muriwhenua Muriwhenua are a group of northern Māori people, Māori iwi, based in Te Hiku o te Ika, the northernmost part of New Zealand's North Island. It consists of six iwi, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, w ...

iwi of the far north of the North Island. The iwi of Te Aupōuri have their primary turangawaewae at Te Kao at the southern end of the Pārengarenga Harbour, with Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē (Ninety Mile Beach) to the west and Tokerau ( Great Exhibition Bay) to the east. Te Aupōuri describe the core area in which they have customary rights and associations, of varying types and nature, as running from Ngāpae in the south-west, east to Ngātū and Waipapakauri Stream, north to the mouth of the Rangaunu Harbour, to Motu-puruhi and Te Rākau-tū-hakahaka (Simmonds Islands) and north to Muri-motu (North Cape), west to Te Rerenga Wairua (Cape Reinga), encompassing Oromaki, Manawa-tāwhi, Moe-kawa and Ohau (Three Kings Islands), south to Motu-o-Pao (Cape Maria van Diemen), to Kahokawa (Scotts Point), Matapia, Waka-te-hāua (The Bluff), Hukatere and back to Ngāpae. Te Aupōuri also maintain historical associations to Rangitāhua (Raoul Island in the Kermadec Islands) and south to Waimimiha. Other iwi of Te Hiku o Te Ika also claim customary interests in this area.

History

The ancestral legend

, ''Te Aupouri'' means "The Dark Smoke" (au = smoke, pōuri = dark). According to legend, the Te Aupōuri came into conflict with

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 ...

. The battle between the two eventually caused two other chieftains, Te Ikanui and Wheru, to become besieged in 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 ...

in Pawarenga on Whangape Harbour. To mask their escape, they burnt their possessions and escaped under the cover of the smoke.Te Kooti Whenua Maori This is the iwi's chant:

Muriwhenua links

Te Aupōuri are one of the five iwi of Muriwhenua, also known as Te Hiku o te Ika a Māui, the Far North of Aotearoa. The people of Te Aupōuri share a number of well-known ancestors with wider Muriwhenua including: * Kupe of the Mata-whao-rua canoe and Te Ngaki of the Tāwhiri-rangi canoe; * Nukutawhiti of the Ngā-toki-mata-whao-rua canoe; * Ruanui-a-Tāne of the Māmari canoe and his wife Manawa-a-rangi; * Whakatau of the Mahuhu-ki-te-rangi canoe; * Pō-hurihanga of the Kurahaupō canoe and his wife Maieke; * Tū-moana of the Tinana canoe and his wives Pare-waha-ariki and Kahukura-ariki; * Te Parata of the Māmaru canoe and his wife Kahu-tia-nui; * Tōhē and Te Kura-a-rangi; * Tū-mata-hina and Tangi-rere; * Rāhiri, Āhua-iti and Whakaruru; * Ue-oneone and Rei-tū; * Kai-rewa and Wai-miri-rangi; * Toa-kai, Tū-kotia and Tara-whati; * Hāiti-tai-marangai and Puna; * Tū-whakatere, Tū-te-rangi-a-tohia and Tū-poia; and * Moko-hōrea and Uru-te-kawa. From these ancestors descend two families from which Te Aupōuri as an independent iwi trace their descent: Firstly, the family of Mōre Te Korohunga and Te Awa. The name ‘Te Aupōuri’ came about from an event in the time of Mōre Te Korohunga and Te Awa’s children – Kupe, Whēru, Te Ikanui, Te Kakati and Te Uruhāpainga, and Secondly, the family of Te Ihupango and Te Amongaariki II, who had two daughters – Tihe and Kohine. Te Amongaariki II is especially important to Te Aupōuri being the principal ancestress of the Te Kao lands and the southern Pārengarenga Harbour. Mōre Te Korohunga & Te Awa’s son, Te Ikanui, married Te Ihupango & Te Amongaariki II’s daughters, Tihe & Kohine. These are the ancestors of the Te Aupōuri people of Te Kao – “Ngā Uri O Te Ikanui”.

Ruanui and the Polynesian rats

According to the traditions of the Aotea,

Horouta In Māori mythology, Māori tradition, the canoe ''Horouta'' was one of the Māori migration canoes, great ocean-going canoes in which Polynesians migrated to New Zealand approximately 800 years ago. The story goes that Kahukura, a man from Ha ...

and

Māmari In Māori tradition, ''Māmari'' was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand. ''Māmari'' was the third waka to arrive with the tangata Ruanui. The traditions of the ''Aotea'', ' ...

ancestral canoes, kiore (

Polynesian rat The Polynesian rat, Pacific rat or little rat (''Rattus exulans''), or , is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the brown rat and black rat. Contrary to its vernacular name, the Polynesian rat originated in Southeast Asi ...

s) were passengers on their voyages from

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 ...

to New Zealand. Carvings on a window frame of Te Ōhākī marae at

Ahipara Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west. Kaitaia is 14 km to the north east, ...

depict the story of Ruanui's rat, Ruanui being the captain of the Māmari canoe. On arriving in

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

, he released his rats onto an island now called

Motukiore Horeke () is a settlement in the upper reaches of the Hokianga Harbour in Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand. Kohukohu, New Zealand, Kohukohu is just across the harbour. The Horeke basalts are located near the town, and can be viewed on an ...

"rat island".

Radio

Te Reo Irirangi o Te Hiku o Te Ika, an iwi radio station, serves Te Aupōuri and other Muriwhenua tribes of the Far North. 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

Makarena Dudley Makarena Diana Dudley , also known as Margaret Dudley, is a New Zealand clinical psychologist, neuropsychologist and academic, specialising in neuropsychology, dementia and Māori health psychology research. She is currently one of the co-direct ...

, psychologist, lecturer at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and dementia researcher *

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 ...

, Mana Party 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 *

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 ...

, singer *

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 ...

, singer *

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 *

Hinemoa Elder Hinemoa Elder (born 1966) is a New Zealand youth forensic psychiatrist and former television presenter. She is a professor in indigenous research at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, a fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College o ...

, youth forensic psychiatrist *

Don Selwyn Don Charles Selwyn (22 November 1935 – 13 April 2007) was a Māori actor and filmmaker from New Zealand. He was a founding member of the New Zealand Māori Theatre Trust and directed the 2002 film '' Te tangata whai rawa o Weneti (The Maori ...

, actor and filmmaker * Matiu Walters, musician * Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, politician * Eru Kapa-Kingi politician and Law Teacher

References

External links

Te Aupōuri's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Te Aupouri