fellow tribes and the gradually increasing influx of European traders prior to 1840. Even after their return, they still joined in expeditions of warfare which took them back into the interior, and much later gave token support to their relatives during the land wars in Waikato.
It has already been remarked that the ancestor Whanaunga was an aggressive leader who possessed a very positive trait of individualism. This can be said of the many of his descendants who became the great leaders of each succeeding generation. Of the Marutuahu tribes, Ngati Whanaunga's mana cannot be gauged by their small numbers, but rather by their performance as signified by the tribal motto, 'E aha koa te iti, ka nui te wehi' (Though we are but few, let the heart dread).
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