Ngāti Awa


Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. It is made of 22 hapū, with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatāne, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te Teko and Matatā. Two urban hapū also exist in Auckland and Wellington.

History

Early history

Ngāti Awa traces its origins to the arrival of Māori settlers on the Mātaatua waka. The Mātaatua settlers established settlements in the Bay of Plenty and Northland. Initially, the tribe controlled a large area in Northland, but conflicts with other northern iwi resulted in a southward migration. One group eventually settled in the eastern Bay of Plenty, whose descendants would eventually found the iwi.
Awanuiarangi II is recognised as the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Awa. Awanuiarangi II was a chief descended from Toroa, captain of the Mātaatua. Descendants of Awanuiarangi II eventually formed their own iwi, Ngāti Awa, named after their ancestor.

Tribal and land wars

Ngāti Awa was frequently at war with neighbouring iwi, including those with similar ancestry. Ngāti Awa initially had good trading relations with European settlers. However, the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s resulted in the British Crown confiscating more than 1,000 km² of Ngāti Awa land.
For more than a century afterwards, Ngāti Awa remained an aggrieved, struggling people. However, in 1999, the Waitangi Tribunal determined that the confiscation of Ngāti Awa land in the New Zealand Wars by the British Crown was illegal, and in 2003 a settlement was reached between Ngāti Awa and the New Zealand Government.
In the nineteenth century Ngāti Pūkeko were considered a separate iwi, but they are currently considered a hapū of Ngāti Awa.

Government settlement

In 2003, following almost ten years of negotiations between the New Zealand Government and Ngāti Awa, a settlement was announced and reparations were made to the iwi. In summary:

Whakatāne hapū

The following hapū are based around Whakatāne and Coastlands:
The following hapū are based around Poroporo and Paroa:
The following hapū are based around Te Teko and Edgecumbe:
The following hapū are based around Matatā and on Motiti Island:
The following urban hapū are affiliated with Ngāti Awa:

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa became the new governing body of the iwi in 2005. Representatives from the Rūnanga were responsible for negotiating the settlement with the government on behalf of Ngāti Awa. Based in Whakatāne, the rūnanga manages the financial assets of the iwi, and promotes cultural, educational and economic development in the region.
The trust manages the tribe's Treaty of Waitangi settlement under the Ngāti Awa Claims Settlement Act and is a body corporate for the tribe's land, under Te Runanga o Ngāti Awa Act. It represents the iwi in aquaculture and fisheries under the Māori Commercial Aquaculture Claims Settlement Act, and represents the iwi during resource consent consultation under the Resource Management Act. The trust is governed by one representative from each of the 22 hapū, and is based in Whangarei.

Local government

The tribal area of the iwi is within the territory of Kawerau District Council and Whakatāne District Council.
It is also within the wider territory of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.

Media

Sun FM

is the radio station for Ngāti Awa. It was first known as Te Reo Irirangi o Te Manuka Tutāhi during a three-week AM trial run in 1990. It went to air as Tumeke FM in 6 April 1991, became Sun FM in 1994 to increase its advertising appeal, and between 1996 and 1999 worked to increase its Māori language content. The classic hits station broadcasts on in Whakatāne.

Notable people