Story: Auckland region
In 1822 the Ngāti Whātua leader Āpihai Te Kawau arrived home from a campaign, to discover Ngāpuhi had annihilated many Tāmaki settlements. Fearing further Ngāpuhi attacks, he and his people retreated to Ōneonenui pā, near Muriwai. By summer they felt sufficiently secure to return to Tāmaki, settling at Te Rehu (Westmere). Following the Te-Ika-a-ranganui battle in 1825, Te Kawau feared further Ngāpuhi attacks and sought shelter in Waikato. In the winter of 1826 they moved north to Mahurangi, where they were welcomed by Ngāpuhi relatives. However, they were subjected to a series of attacks by hostile northern tribes. These forced them to retreat to Kopupaka, near Whenuapai, from where Te Kawau accepted Ngāti Paoa protection at Whakatīwai in 1827. Still feeling unsafe, the sub-tribe sought greater security in Waikato, eventually settling at Te Horo, by the Waipā River, in 1831. Te Kawau’s people returned to Tāmaki later in the decade.
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