of lodgings. They humiliated him at every opportunity and when he accepted these challenges without flinching, their respect and admiration for him grew. When Tukutukue and Paoa eventually married, their many children and descendants saw the emergence of the fifth dimension of the Marutuahu tribal federation—Ngati Paoa.
There is no need to enter into their early exploits as their history blends in with that of their brethren tribes which has already been recorded. Theirs is a story of tribal expansion not only in Hauraki, but also into the districts fringing the gulf.
Many of their boundaries had already been established by Tukutuku. On consolidation they included mainly the lands of the Piako and those of the western gulf bounded by the Hapu a Kohe and Hunua Ranges. The earlier wars with the Waiohua tribe opened up the Tamaki isthmus in which they gained a strong foothold. From this base they and their kindred tribes were later able to launch an assault upon the peaceful Kawerau people who occupied much of the coastal strip and islands commencing at Takapuna and extending north to the Whangaparaoa peninsula and Mahurangi.
Ngati Paoa were the most explosive of the Hauraki tribes. They were mainly sea-going and they adopted a mobility of action and ferocity that became the hallmark of their performances. These characteristics were made evident early in their tribal history when the aged Paoa decided to return to Taupiri in order to appease his conscience by visiting his grown sons whom he had deserted years before. This took place very much against the wishes of his Hauraki-born sons, Tipa and Horowhenua, who feared that he may be restrained from returning. Their fears were indeed well-founded. This sent them into action, culminating in the rescue of their father and the slaying of their elder half-brothers. Following this episode the tribal name Ngati Paoa was adopted.
During the Marutuahu occupations of Tamaki, Ngati Paoa were hard-pressed to maintain their hold on the lands won from the Waiohua and Kawerau tribes of that region. By the middle of the 18th century their enemies had carried out campaigns of retaliation which saw them regain many of their former territories. This state of affairs was compounded by the southern movement of Ngati Whatua from the Kaipara area who, taking advantage of the restlessness, gradually established a hold over most of Tamaki north and west of the estuary. Most of the Marutuahu were able to stave off this new menace by entering into diplomatic alliances and the relationship managed to survive until the coming of the Europeans.
By this time the bulk of the Ngati Paoa were living about the isthmus and inner gulf islands where they had built their homes and fortifications. There was intermarriage with resident tribes and apart from isolated skirmishes with their neighbours there appeared to be a period of relative peace. However, it was not to last. Small disputes arose from within their own ranks and finally burst open into full-blooded internal tribal wars. When Cook arrived during his voyage in 1769 he observed the deserted appearance of some Ngati Paoa settlements which suggested a state of hostility. Many tribal accounts of that time point to the over-sensitiveness of Ngati Paoa who seem to have instigated many of the incidents leading up to the acts of aggression.
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