Traditional origins Ngāi Tahu trace their traditional descent from Tahupōtiki (also Te Tuhi-māreikura-o-Oho-a-tama-wahine), and Tahumatua), the younger brother of
Porourangi. The brothers are said to be descended from
Paikea as grandsons, great-grandsons, Whatever the case, Tahupōtiki was born in
Whāngārā (a place associated with Paikea), around 1450CE. He was given command of the (canoe), and took it down to the South Island where he landed at the
Arahura River on the
West Coast – or at the
Waiau River near
Manapōuri. He stayed there for a time before travelling back to Whāngārā in a new canoe upon learning of the death of his brother. As according to ancient protocol, he took Porourangi's grieving wife Hamo-te-rangi as his own, by whom he had at least four sons: Ira-a-Tahu, Ira-(apa)-roa, Rakaroa, Rakahurumanu, Tūroto, Tahutīoro, and Ruanuku. . Ngāi Tahu originated in the Gisborne District Tahupōtiki, Ira-a-Tahu, Iraroa, and Tahumuri-hape moved south towards Tūranga, then settled at
Maraetaha at the northern end of the
Wharerātā Range. Karimoe instead moved northwards and settled at the banks of the Mangaheia stream, inwards of
Ūawanui-a-Ruamatua. The family later moved to
Iwitea, where Tahupōtiki built the Taumatahīnaki . The ancestor Te Matuahanga (descendant of Tūroto and Rakaroa) is still known in the area around there. More were established further inland along the Tukemōkihi block.
16th century Owing to growing tensions between the various inhabiting the surrounding area, many groups began their migration away from Waerenga-a-Hika in the Gisborne District. One of the earliest notable instances of tension was where Rākaihikuroa, grandson of
Kahungunu, killed his own twin brothers out of jealousy, and was banished after his own son Tupurupuru was killed in revenge. Rakawahakura was later killed near
Waikato.
17th century Migration to Wellington From Gisborne the had moved down the coast to the
Heretaunga. The ancestress Tūhaitara, senior granddaughter of Rakawahakura, insulting her husband Chief Marukore of Ngāti Māmoe, or
Te Kāhea, but he was a local viewed as below her status. The pair had 11 children in total, including Tamaraeroa, Huirapa, Tahumatā, Pahirua and Hinehou. Curiosity burning in him since childhood, when the other children would pick fun on him for being illegitimate, Te Hikutawatawa left Kaiwhakawaru seeking out his step-father. Upon his arrival to Waimea, Tūmaro's father Kahukura-te-paku, not knowing who he was, had intended to cannibalise him, but later put a stop to the meal preparations when local children heard Te Hikutawatawa muttering of his origins. Kahukura-te-paku then asked Te Hikutawatawa to climb through a window to remove the breach on , where he and Tūmaro greeted him with open arms. Te Hikutawatawa was still outraged at his being defiled by Kahukura-te-paku, so he returned later to destroy the site and kill everyone who lived there. After this he was known as ( meaning "sacred altar", meaning "to be angry"). In the North Island, Hikaororoa, a prominent tribal member, attacked Te Mata-ki-kaipoinga after Tūāhuriri insulted him. Tūtekawa (Tūāhuriri's brother-in-law of senior Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Porou, and Ngāti Māmoe connections) withdrew his men to attack at another angle after his younger relative recognised an insult from Hikaororoa. He sent the same relative to warn Tūāhuriri to escape, which he did into a nearby bush. For unknown reasons, when Tūtekawa entered the , he slew Tūāhuriri's wives Hinekaitaki and Tuarāwhati (Whākuku's sisters). After the battle, Tūtekawa fled down to Waikākahi on the shores of
Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora where he lived amongst his fellow Ngāti Māmoe. On one occasion when Ngāti Kurī fought with
Rangitāne, Chief Tūteurutira had mistaken one of his captives, Hinerongo, as one of the enemy's women. She was in fact a member of Ngāti Māmoe who had already been taken captive by Rangitāne, and so he returned her to the Matariki near
Waiau Toa. This struck a new alliance between their , after which they successfully attacked Rangitāne in the
Wairau Valley. For this Ngāti Māmoe then ceded the east coast regions north of Waiau Toa to Ngāi Tahu, and Tūteurutira and Hinerongo married and settled at the . By the 1690s Ngāi Tahu had settled in
Canterbury, including Ngāti Kurī conquering the east coast down to
Kaikōura, and Ngāti Irakehu peaceably settling among
Banks Peninsula's Ngāti Māmoe. Around this time, the
ariki Tūteāhuka was moving the last of the tribe's members to the South Island through the Cook Strait. As a consequence for ignoring Chief Te Aweawe's advice to strap two canoes together for a safer passage, Tūāhuriri is said to have been left to drown along with Tūmaro while trying to leave Wellington. It is very likely that Tūāhuriri's eldest son Hāmua also drowned, otherwise he might have died in Kaikōura at a young age. Tūtekawa's son Te Rakitāmau returned to the home, where he found his wife Punahikoia and children unharmed, and the attackers sleeping near the fire. Te Rakitāmau did not avenge Tūtekawa, but instead left a sign that he spared the attackers' lives, and peace was eventually restored between their descendants. Makō-ha-kirikiri was given
Little River and
Wairewa, and Te Ruahikihiki of Kāti Kurī, ancestor of Ngāi Te Ruakihikihi, son of Manawaiwaho and Te Apai, was given Kaitōrete and Te Waihora. Chief Huikai also established himself at Koukourarata (named after the stream in Wellington where Rākaitekura prepared her hair), and his son Tautahi took Ōtautahi (the site of present-day
Christchurch). Tūāhuriri's second eldest son Tūrakautahi, the famous chief of Ngāi Tūhaitara born with a
club foot, established Te Kōhaka-a-kaikai-a-waro (now the
Kaiapoi ) at the Taerutu Lagoon near
Woodend, and claimed the area around Banks Peninsula. , the tallest mountain of all his brothers. Aoraki was a divine ancestor who froze into stone in Ngāi Tahu myths. The South Island's earliest-known name is , in reference to his story With the discovery of Nōti Raureka (Browning Pass) by its namesake Raureka, of the West Coast
Ngāti Wairangi, Ngāi Tūhaitara quickly developed an interest in
Te Tai Poutini for the
pounamu that can be found there. It is said to have been Tūrakautahi's decision to learn the genealogies and traditions of Ngāti Wairangi and
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, the former of which already shared a common ancestry with Ngāi Tahu through the ancestors Tura and Paikea, and the latter being of the like Ngāti Māmoe, Ngāi Tara, and Rangitāne. A similar approach was also taken to learn Waitaha's genealogies and stories. Myths that Ngāi Tahu brought to the South Island themselves include those of the
Takitimu Mountains (being the ) and the . Tūrakautahi and one Te-ake narrowly escaped slaughter in Ngāti Wairangi territory after others had been slain for breaking sacred customs. Kaweriri later travelled with a south to
Lowther where he was slain by the Kāti Māmoe chief Tutemakohu around the year 1725 during the Battle of Waitaramea. Tūrakautahi's other son by his wife Te Aowharepapa, Rakiāmoa, would continue the main lines of descent of Ngāi Tahu.
19th century Kaihuānga feud The Kaihuānga feud of the 1820s heavily involved the (paramount chief)
Tamaiharanui, whose status was so spiritually superior within the that people of lower ranking would avert their gaze and avoid looking at him directly. If his shadow fell upon food, that food became and had to be destroyed. The Kaihuānga feud is an historical instance that highlights the importance of the 's spiritual status, and the importance of . The feud sparked when a woman from the Waikakahi at
Wairewa named Murihaka wore a dogskin cloak which belonged to Tamaiharanui, thus causing an insult to him. His followers then killed Rerewaka, a slave of one of Murihaka's relatives. The relatives then responded by killing another chief, Hape. The Otago and Taumutu parties destroyed the Rīpapa before returning to Otago. Ngāti Toa then visited Kaiapoi, ostensibly to trade. When Ngāti Toa attacked their hosts, the well-prepared Ngāi Tahu killed all the leading Ngāti Toa chiefs except Te Rauparaha who subsequently returned to his stronghold at
Kapiti Island. During this time Ngati Tumatakokiri continued attacking the Poutini Ngāi Tahu from Kawatiri over land and hunting disputes, with
Ngāti Rārua also attacking the Poutini Ngāi Tahu with muskets, seeking pounamu. Ngāti Toa killed the remaining captives. John Stewart, though arrested and sent to trial in
Sydney as an accomplice to murder, nevertheless escaped conviction. Fighting continued for a year or so, with Ngāi Tahu maintaining the upper hand. In 1836 Chief Te Pūoho of
Ngāti Tama, allied to Ngāti Toa, led his from Whanganui Inlet down to the West Coast to the
Haast River. From there he crossed the
Haast Pass into central
Otago and
Southland. Tūhawaiki had by now learned of this oncoming attack, and led his own from
Ruapuke Island to Tuturau, where he fought and killed Te Pūoho. The Cook Strait (
Henry Williams) sheet was used at
Arapaoa Island and
Rangitoto ki te Tonga / D'Urville Island at the northern end of the South Island, but was not signed by Ngāi Tahu. The sheet's first four signatures came from
Coromandel Harbour one week later on 4 May, and the next two were signed aboard HMS
Herald just off the
Mercury Islands on 7 May. These signatures were collectively from the
Ngāti Whanaunga,
Ngāti Pāoa, and
Ngāti Maru. The last signatures mostly came from members of Ngāti Toa at
Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay (17 June) and
Mana Island (19 June) – including Te Rauparaha who had already signed the Cook Strait (Henry Williams) sheet on 14 May – and from three Ngāti Kahungunu members at
Hawke's Bay on 24 June, amounting to a total of 27 signatures for the sheet. making Joss the first known Māori to get so close to the continent. Timaru William Joss (1905–1955), William Timaru's grandson, joined Admiral
Richard E. Byrd's expedition to Antarctica in 1935. George Henry West (Kāi Te Rakiāmoa) was the first pilot of Māori-descent to join the
Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in 1936. During a training flight on the night of 11 May 1939, his student accidentally undershot a landing exercise. West died of his injuries the following day.
John Pohe was otherwise the first full-blooded Māori pilot to join the RNZAF in 1941. Turu Rakerawa Hiroti and John Charles Tamanuiarangi Tikao would go on to serve during
World War II. The former serving as a recruitment officer, and the latter serving as a captain with the
Māori Battalion. Timaru William Joss also served with the
United States Navy, in charge of a barge during the
Normandy landings.
Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act 1998 The
New Zealand Parliament passed the
Ngāi Tahu Claims Settlement Act in 1998 to record an apology from the Crown and to settle claims made under the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. One of the Act's provisions covered the use of dual English and Māori names for geographical locations in the Ngāi Tahu tribal area. The recognised tribal authority, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, is based in
Christchurch and in
Invercargill. Acore contributor to the degradation of water quality has been the growth of
intensive dairy farming over three decades which has left many South Island rivers with deficient
streamflows and problematic
nitratebased
eutrophication. == Dialect ==