The innumerable land sales of last century emphasised the indivisible presence of Marutuahu multi-tribal ownership in regard to their possessions. Even today several Maori land blocks in Hauraki still retain pan-tribal title.
Marutuahu in Tamaki
The very first historical appearance of the Marutuahu in Tamaki occurred in the time of Kahurautao who was the grandson of Marutuahu. When the Tamaki tribes of Waiohua and Ngati Huarere murdered this Ngati Maru high chief and his son Kiwi, it was the younger son, Rautao, who raised a Marutuahu force to avenge their deaths. The then compact consisted of Ngati Maru, Ngati Rongo U, Ngati Tamatera and Ngati Whanaunga.
Their success was followed by the occupation of the conquered lands. Although accounts detail the activities of some participants, there is no mention of Ngati Paoa having taken part. Nevertheless, on their later emergence as a tribal entity they naturally took up occupation in Tamaki as part of the confederacy who were to extend their boundaries farther north into Takapuna and the Mahurangi areas.
By that time, it could be correctly stated that the Marutuahu owned or occupied most of the contiguous land adjoining the coastline and islands commencing from the inner Tauranga harbour at the Matakana estuary in the south, to the Matakana River estuary in the north. This was certainly the situation, circa 1840. Mai i Matakana ki Matakana, was the boast.
The Marutuahu claims to Mana Moana today has not altered since that time. Its marine boundaries (including Ngai Tai, Ngati Hei and Ngati Porou), indenting the coastline for some considerable length, cannot be individually isolated. The coastline purports to be one of the longest and richly resourced in the North Island.
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