Me manaaki tātou i tō tātou whāea e takoto iho nei, a Papatuanuku.
Te rohe whenua
Ko Te Urewera te rohe whenua o Ngāi Tūhoe. Ka haere whakateuru mā Maungapōhatu ki Ngā Māhanga i te awa o Ōhinemataroa, atu i Ngā Māhanga ka rere tonu ki Te Ikawhenua-a-Tamatea kei waenganui i ngā awa o Ōhinemataroa me Rangitāiki, ka rere te paenga atu i reira ki kō paku atu o Tarapounamu i te tonga, ka haere tonu i konei ki Maungataniwha, ki te awa o Waiau, kātahi ka whai i te pae maunga o Huiarau ki Whakataka, ka hoki ki Maungapōhatu.
Nā ngā pakanga me ngā whakapākūhā, ka hōrapa te mana o Ngāi Tūhoe ki Waikaremoana me Te Pāpuni i te rāwhiti, ki Te Whāiti, ki Whirinaki, ki Te Houhi i te uru, ki Ōpouriao, ki Te Waimana, ki Te Hūrepo i te raki. Ka huaki mai he putanga ki ngā kai o Te Moana-o-Tairongo i Ōhiwa.
He whenua pukepuke, ngāherehere a Te Urewera. I tua atu i ngā wāhi papatahi pēnei i a Ngā Māhanga, a Hanga-mahihi, a Ōhāua-i-te-rangi, kāore he tino rahi ngā wāhi pai hei whakatipu kai. Nā tōna pukepuke, ngāherehere, tawhiti, mātao, nō te paunga o te rau tau 1800 kātahi anō te Pākehā ka arotahi ki ngā whenua o Te Urewera.
Te wao
He nui te wao ki a Ngāi Tuhoe; hei pātaka kai, hei tango kākahu, rongoā. Koinei te tāwharau o te iwi i ngā wā o te riri. Nā tō rātou tawhiti i te moana, kāore i nui te kaimoana. Waihoki, kāore te kūmara e tipu ki te nuinga o Te Urewera. Nā reira, ka nanao te iwi ki ngā kai me ngā rawa o te wao hei oranga mō rātou.
Ngā maunga
He tapu ki a Ngāi Tūhoe ōna maunga. Ko ngā maunga ngā takotoranga a ngā tīpuna, ngā rua kōhā o te iwi. Ka tū ngā maunga hei tohu ki te mana o ō rātou iwi, whakahuatia ai i runga i ngā marae, i roto i ngā whaikōrero, waiata, haka.
Kei tēnā kāinga, kei tēnā hapori o Ngāi Tūhoe tōna ake maunga ka whakanuia e ngā hapū o taua takiwā. Heoi, ko te maunga nui ki a Ngāi Tūhoe ko Maungapōhatu e tū mai rā i te puku o Te Urewera. .I te waihangatanga a Rua Kēnana i tana whakapono, ka whakaritea ko Maungapōhatu hei pokapū mōna i te mea ‘… koinei te Maunga o Īhowa, me ō mātou Kaumātua.’ 1 Ko ētahi maunga o Tūhoe, ko Huiarau, ko Panekire, ko Tāwhiuau, ko Te Ikawhenua-a-Tamatea, ko Maungataniwha, ko Puke-nui-o-raho, ko Taiarahia, ko Hikurangi.
Ngā awa
Ko Tauranga, ko Ōhinemataroa, ko Whirinaki, ko Rangitāiki ngā awa nui o te rohe o Ngāi Tūhoe. I tua atu i ngā kāinga i Waikaremoana, kei ngā whārua o ngā awa ngā papakāinga o Tūhoe – arā, a Ruatāhuna me Rūātoki i te awa o Ōhinemataroa, a Matahī me Te Waimana i te awa o Tauranga, a Waiōhau i te awa o Rangitāiki, a Te Whāiti i te awa o Whirinaki. I te horapa o te iwi ki waho o Te Urewera, ka whai rātou i ngā awa nei.
Waikaremoana
Ko Waikaremoana te whaitua o te rohe pōtae o Tūhoe ki te tonga mā-rāwhiti. E ai ki ngā kōrero, na Haumapuhia te moana i auaha i tana okeoke kia puta ki te moana. Nā tōna matua nā Māhū a ia i toremi, ka huri i a ia hei taniwha.
I te tīmatanga o te rau tau 1800, i te pakanga a Ngāi Tūhoe rāua ko Ngāti Kahungunu i Waikaremoana. Ka toa a Ngāi Tūhoe, ka karangahia ngā hapū i ngā takiwā o te rohe pōtae ki te whakatūturu i te noho a te iwi ki Waikaremoana. Ka whakamoea ngā uri o Ngāi Tūhoe ki ngā hapū o Waikaremoana hei aha, hei whakakaha i te hononga. Nā te pakari o ēnei whakaritenga, ka kaha te Tūhoetanga ki roto ngā hapū o reira, tatū rawa ki ēnei rā. Nā te taenga mai o te whakapono Karaitiana, me te hiahia tonu o ngā iwi, ka whakatūhia te tatau pounamu kei waenganui i a Ngāi Tūhoe me Ngāi Kahungunu: hei tohu, ka whakamoea ngā maunga arā, a Kūhā Tārewa (Ngāi Tūhoe) rāua ko Turi-o-Kahu (Ngāti Kahungunu).
