CHAPTER 2

NGA TANGATA WHENUA

2.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we outline Maori occupation of the Tauranga Moana district in the period up to 1865. We set out briefly the successive migrations into the area before 1800, and introduce the Maori groups that had become tangata whenua there by the early nineteenth century. Then, we discuss in somewhat more detail events from 1818 until the 1840s, during which time the introduction of firearms led to an intensification of intertribal warfare commonly known as the ‘musket wars’. Finally, to summarise the situation in 1865, we locate the various Tauranga hapu in terms of their relationships with the land, with each other, and with the peoples of neighbouring districts. Our narrative of the arrival of Pakeha, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the development of relations between Maori and the Crown will be the subject of chapter 3.

2.2 Ko Mauao te Maunca, ko Tauranga te Moana

‘Tauranga’ means either a resting place or anchorage for canoes (tauranga waka) or a fishing ground (tauranga ika). Although it is possible the name Tauranga may originally have been given to a specific site within a harbour known as Te Awanui,¹ we use the current designation of Tauranga Moana as the name of the whole harbour area. Over many generations, Tauranga Moana has provided a resting place for countless canoes (including, according to tradition, several of the great ancestral waka which voyaged from the Maori homeland of Hawaiki), and it has kept Maori well-supplied with fish and other kaimoana.

At the southern entrance to Tauranga Moana is Mauao (Mount Maunganui), which stands alone, dominating the surrounding landscape. According to legend, this hill was originally located by the mountain Otanewainuku to the south. Mauao was in love with a neighbouring mountain, Puwhenua, but she was pledged to Otanewainuku, so the lovelorn maunga decided to drown himself in the ocean. He enlisted the help of the supernatural forest-folk, the patupaiarehe, who dragged him to the sea. When they reached the shore, however, the sun

1. Document d7, p 24