, New Zealand.
Early history Ngāti Awa traces its origins to the arrival of Māori settlers on the
Mātaatua waka (canoe). 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. In an 1821-1822 raid,
Pōmare and
Te Wera Hauraki of Ngāpuhi returned to avenge this defeat. Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Pukeko initially tried to hold out in abandoned
Tūhoe pā in Ruatoki, but after losing five of these
pā the rangatira Te Mautaranui (who also descended from Tūhoe) led a wholesale evacuation that Ngāpuhi pursued nearly 70 kilometers to the south. Eventually, Te Mautaranui opened negotiations with Pōmare and secured not only peace for Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe, but Pōmare’s friendship as well. When the Tūhoe rangatira Te Rangiwaitatao was killed by
Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Mautaranui was able to call upon Pōmare to join an 1824 retaliatory raid with
Ngāti Whātua,
Whakatōhea,
Ngāti Maru,
Ngāti Tamaterā,
Ngāiterangi, Tūhoe, and Ngāti Awa against Ngāti Kahungunu’s Titirangi
pā, which was successfully captured. When Te Mautaranui was treacherously killed by Tuakiaki of Ngāti Kahungunu in 1826, Ngāti Awa and Tūhoe called upon the help of
Te Whatanui of
Ngāti Raukawa and Pōmare and Te Wera of Ngāpuhi to attain revenge. The alliance successfully captured Pohaturoa and Waihau
pā, slaughtering their inhabitants and killing Tuakiaki. In 1829, the
rangatira Ngarara plundered the trading ship
Haweis, provoking retaliation from other iwi who feared that the attack would jeopardize their access to international trade. Ngāiterangi immediately responded with an attack on Puketapu
pā, which Ngāti Awa repelled with the help of a cannon they had captured from the
Haweis. The
rangatira Te Hana of Ngāpuhi, for his part, simply hitched a ride on the schooner
New Zealander and assassinated Ngarara when he came aboard to trade. The
New Zealander was also carrying a number of
Ngāti Porou passengers, and their mere presence at the scene of the assassination was enough to mobilize Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, and
Te Whānau-ā-Apanui for a raid against Ngāti Porou at Omuru-iti, where they killed a European trader associated with the iwi. In 1830, Ngāti Maru under Tuterangianini and Te Rohu raided Ngāti Awa territory. In 1834, Ngāti Awa sent forces alongside Whakatōhea and
Ngāi Tai to assist Te Whānau-ā-Apanui in the defense of Toka a Kuku
pā against Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, and
Rongowhakaata. Although this relief force was badly mauled by Te Wera of Ngāpuhi and Kakatarau of Rongowhakaata at Puremutahuri Stream, the defenders nonetheless held the
pā. 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. ==Hapū and marae==