The current perception of Hauraki territory tends to focus on the Coromandel peninsula, ignoring the sea-going character of the people who comprised the Hauraki iwi. The zone of influence exercised by these tribes in the early nineteenth century extended out from the Coromandel peninsula, encompassing the western shores of the Firth of Thames, the islands of the gulf; and reached lands as far north as Mahurangi where the Marutuahu people fished for shark, and later participated in 'sales'. The extent of Hauraki interests is described in Taimoana Turoa's account of the iwi of the region:
Their total peripheral boundaries can generally be described as commencing at the sunken reefs of "Nga Kuri-a-Wharei" offshore of Waihi Beach on the eastern coast, progressing West inland to Te Aroha, thence to Hoe-o-Tainui ... north along the range line of Te Hapu-a-Kohe and the Hunua ranges to Momoukai and Papakura. A direct northern boundary continues to include parts of the Tamaki isthmus, Takapuna, Whangaporoa and Mahurangi before terminating at Matakana River estuary south of Rodney. The seaward boundaries continue eastwards to include parts of the island of Aotea, Great Barrier and then southwards to its commencement at "Nga Kuri-a-Wharei". Included in those margins are the inner gulf islands of Tikapa Moana and those, except for Tuhua Island, offshore of the eastern coastline.1
This was a rich area of natural resources which encompassed: the fishing grounds of the Hauraki gulf; the mudflats of the Miranda and Kauaeranga coasts noted for their shellfish, flounder, and birds; the wetlands of Piako containing eels, flax, birds, and cultivation grounds along the alluvial flats; and sites where the highly-prized properties of the earth were utilised, for example, basalt for adzes at Tahanga, siliceous sinter for cutting tools at Great Mercury Island, and obsidian from Tuhua by the Purangi River.2
At 1840 a mixed group of Hauraki iwi occupied the core lands of this region (the shores of the Firth, certain of the islands of the Gulf, the Coromandel peninsula extending into the interior to Te Aroha, and the Hauraki Plains). This group included the alliance known as the Marutuahu confederacy comprising Ngati Maru, Ngati Paoa, Ngati Tamatera, and Ngati Whanaunga (descended from Marutuahu, the son of exiled Tainui chief; Hotonui, who is thought to have led an invasion of the region in the seventeenth century);
1 Tai Turoa, Nga Iwi o Hauraki, The Iwi of Hauraki, report prepared for Hauraki Maori Trust Board, 1997.
2See A. Salmond, Two Worlds: First Meetings Between Maori and Europeans, 1642-1772, Auckland, 1991,
