Te putanga mai o te iwi
Hoki atu ai ngā whakapapa o Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi e noho ana i Aotearoa i mua i te taenga mai o ngā tīpuna i heke mā runga i a Mataatua. He maha ngā takiwā kua nōhia e te iwi nei. I ēnei rā, kei te rāwhiti o Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi ngā kāinga o Ngāti Awa, arā, kei ngā takiwā o Whakatāne, o Te Teko, o Etikamu (Edgecumbe), o Matatā, o Kawerau.
Ngā tīpuna taketake
Ko ngā tīpuna tūturu o Ngāti Awa ko Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga rāua ko tōna uri a Te Papa-titi-rau-maewa. Nō muri i a rāua ko Tīwakawaka, te kaihōpara tuatahi kia noho ki ngā whenua o Kākahoroa (Whakatāne). Ko Te Aratauwhāiti tōna waka, ā, ka mōhiotia ōna uri ko Ngāti Ngainui, ko rātou te iwi tuatahi ki Whakatāne.
Tekau mā rua ngā whakapaparanga whai muri i a Tīwakawaka ka puta ko Toitehuatahi (Toi). I noho ia ki te pā o Kaputerangi, kei runga ake o te tāone o Whakatāne. Koia te tipuna taketake o te rahi o ngā iwi o Te Ika-a-Māui. Ko Rauru te mātāmua o ngā tamariki a Toi. Ko Huiarei tōna whāea. Ko Awanuiarangi I te tama tuarua a Toi, ko Te Kuraimonoa tōna whāea. Ko ngā uri o Awanuiarangi I ko Ngāti Awa ki Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, ko Ngāti Awa ki Te Tai Tokerau, ko Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki.
Mataatua
E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a Ngāti Awa, i tana hekenga mai i Hawaiki, i ū a Mataatua ki Whakatāne. Nā ngā tāngata o runga i a Mataatua te kūmara i mau ki Kākahoroa; ko tētahi atu mea i heria mai e rātou, ko tētahi kapunga oneone mai i Rangiātea, i waihotia ki Matirerau, tō ratou māra i Whakatāne.
Ko Toroa te rangatira o runga te waka a Mataatua, koia tētahi o ngā tipuna nui o Ngāti Awa. Nā Toroa ko Ruaihona, nāna ko Te Tahinga-o-te-rā, nā Te Tahinga-o-te-rā ko Awanuiarangi II, te tipuna nui o ngā hapū katoa o Ngāti Awa. Mai anō, he huānga a Ngāi Te Rangi rāua ko Ngāti Awa, e kaha tonu nei ngā hononga kei waenganui i a rāua i ēnei rā.
Ngā rā o nehe
Te iwi i te tai tokerau
I ngā wā o mua e noho ana a Ngāti Awa ki te tai tokerau, ki ngā rohe o Kaitāia, o Ahipara me te roto o Tāngonge (kua whakatahea ōna wai ināianei). I taua takiwā ngā ana kōiwi o te iwi.
Nō te wā atu i te tau 1600, whai muri i ngā pakanga ki a Ngāti Whātua me Ngāpuhi, ka heke a Ngāti Awa ki te tonga. E rua ngā hekenga. Nā Tītahi tētahi wāhanga o te iwi i ārahi mā te tai hauāuru kia tae ki Waitara i Taranaki. I a rātou ka heke haere, ka whakatūtū pā a Tītahi ki Tāmaki-makau-rau, ko tētahi o aua pā i tū ki Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill). Ko tētahi atu heke nā Kauri i ārahi mā te tai rāwhiti kia tae ki Tauranga. Ko tētahi peka o tēnei heke ka haere tonu kia tae ki Whakatāne, ka hono atu ki Te-Tini-o-Awa. Kitea tonuhia ai ngā uri o Kauri rāua ko Tītahi kei ngā hapū o Ngāti Awa i ēnei rā.
Ahakoa i mahue i a rātou ngā rohe o te raki, kei te pakari tonu ngā hononga a Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi o te tai tokerau, arā, ki a Ngāi Takoto rātou ko Te Aupōuri, ko Te Rarawa, ko Ngāti Wai.
Te rohe o te iwi
E tohu ana te pepeha nei ki te whānui o te rohe o Ngāti Awa me ngā wāhi nui, inā:
Ngā mate i Kōhī me tangi mai i Kawerau;
Ngā mate i Kawerau me tangi atu i Kōhī.
Ko Muriwai te tuahine a Toroa, te rangatira o te waka a Mataatua. I te toremitanga o ana tamariki e rua, ka whakatakotoria e Muriwai tōna rāhui. Nā ngā iwi kei tēnā taha, kei tēnā taha o Whakatāne i whakawhānui ake i te rāhui kia toro ‘mai i ngā kurī a Whārei ki Tihirau’, me kī, mai i te takiwā o Katikati i te uru, ki Whangaparāoa kei te rāwhiti, koinei te rohe pōtae o ngā iwi o Mataatua.
He wā anō ka rongohia te mana o Ngāti Awa ki Te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, mai i Pongakawa ki te uru, ki Ōhiwa kei te rāwhiti, toro whakauta ki Matahina, Maungawhakamana, Pokohu, kia huri taiāwhio anō ki Pongakawa. Ka iri te mana o Ngāti Awa ki ngā moutere o Mōtītī, o Rūrima, o Moutohorā me Whakaari.
Tū whakahirahira ana ngā maunga o te rohe o Ngāti Awa, a Te Rae ki Kōhī, a Te Tiringa, a Whakapau-kōrero, a Ōtipa me Pūtauaki. I ngā wā o mua ko ngā huarahi nui mō te iwi ko ngā repo me ngā awa e toru, a Tarawera, a Rangitāiki me Whakatāne. I noho anō ēnei wai hei wāhi whakamarumaru mō ngā hapū.
I roto i ngā rau tau, pakanga ai a Ngāti Awa mō tōna rohe whenua. Ka whawhai tonu a Ngāti Awa ki ngā iwi noho tata, ahakoa te mea he rite ā rātou kōrero tuku iho, ko ō rātou tīpuna ērā ko ngā tīpuna o Ngāti Awa.
Ngā rau tau o 1800 me 1900
Te raupatu whenua
E kōrero ana te tipuna a Tamatearehe o Ngāti Awa mō tōna ake iwi i tana kōrero:
Kei runga te kōrero, kei raro te rahurahu.
Ko te tikanga o tēnei pepeha, ka kōrero te tangata i tētahi kōrero, engari ko ōna whakaaro kei wāhi kē. Ahakoa te hipa o te wā, ka whai tikanga taua kōrero i te taenga o te Pākehā.
I ngā tau pokapu o te rau tau 1800 i te pai katoa ngā whakawhitiwhitinga tuatahitanga ki waenganui i a Ngāti Awa me te Pākehā. Heoi, nā te hiahia o ngā tāngata whai i ngā whenua o te Māori me te tohe o te iwi ki te pupuri ki tō rātou rangatiratanga, taro ake ka tutū te puehu ki waenganui i a Ngāti Awa me te kāwanatanga. Nō te tau 1866, i runga i ngā whakapae mō te ‘whakakeke’ me te kōhuru o Hēmi Te Mautaranui (he kanohi mō te Karauna, nō Ngāti Awa me Ngāi Tūhoe), ka whakawhiua a Ngāti Awa me ngā iwi o Mataatua, ka raupatuhia ō rātou whenua. Nō te tau 1999 ka whakaae Te Rōpu Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi i tūkinotia te iwi, i murua āna me ōna whenua e 100,000 heketea te rahi.
Nā Hāmiora Tumutara Pio, tētahi rangatira, tohunga nō Ngāti Awa, ngā rongo kino o te raupatu whenua i whakamārama pēnei,:
Koia tēnei; ko te toroa noho au,
E tangi ana ki tōna kāinga, e mihi ana.
Ngā tāngata nui
Tokomaha ngā rangatira o Ngāti Awa i whakaputa ō ratou mana i te rau tau 1800. He rangatira, he tohunga whakairo a Apanui Te Hāmaiwaho. Nāna i ako tana tama a Wēpiha Apanui. Ka tū a Wēpiha hei rangatira nui o te iwi, ka whai wāhi nui ia ki ngā mahi whakahirahira o te iwi.
Ko Te Rangitūkehu Hātua te rangatira o Te Pahipoto, tētahi hapū nui o Ngāti Awa. Ka whānau, ka pakeke tana tamāhine a Maata Te Taiawatea hei puhi. Ka moe ia i a Te Hāroto Whakataka Riini Mānuera, te tama a tētahi rangatira o te Warahoe. Ka mate tōna matua, ka kawe e Maata āna mahi. He nui ngā wā i roto ia i Te Kōti Whenua Māori e tohe ana mō ngā take whenua o tōna iwi.
Ko Te Hura Te Taiwhakaripi te rangatira o Ngāi Te Rangihouhiri. I ōna rā, ko tēnei tētahi o ngā hapū tino kaha o Ngāti Awa. He ariki, he tumu kōrero, he tohunga a Hāmiora Tumutara Pio ki ngā tikanga a tōna iwi.
I ngā tau tōmua o te rau tau 1900, ko Te Hurinui Apanui te rangatira o te iwi; koia te mokopuna a Apanui Te Hāmaiwaho. I tōna matenga i te tau1924, ka ngaro te whare o Apanui.
Ngāti Awa i ēnei rā
I te tau 1899, ka puta te kōrero a Tā Āpirana Ngata mō Ngāti Awa:
‘He iwi mate a Ngāti Awa, nā runga i ngā whakawhiu o te ture, …. ka tangi ahau mō rātou e pēhia kinohia e te kāwanatanga’.
Te waihanga anō i te iwi
I ngā tau tōmuri o te rau tau 1900 ka tīmata ngā rangatira o Ngāti Awa ki te waihanga anō i te iwi; kāore he āwhina i puta ki a rātou. I rerekē a Ngāti Awa ki ētahi atu iwi, kāore ana poari kaitiaki, kāore he ara mō rātou e tarea ai te whātoro ki ngā rawa a te kāwanatanga. Hāunga, ka ngana tonu rātou kia puta he hua. Whāia, ka whakatūria he manatū mō te iwi, ko Te Poari o Ngāti Awa tērā, nō muri ka matika ake ko Te Rūnanga-o-Ngāti Awa. He reo irirangi tō Ngāti Awa, ko Te Reo Irirangi-o-Te Mānuka Tūtahi; he whare kura tuatoru tō te iwi, ko Te Whare Wānanga-o-Awanuiarangi. Kua tahuri a Ngāti Awa ki te whakahōu i a Mataatua wharenui, he taonga whakahirahira i kāhakina i te tau 1878. Nō te tau 1996 rā anō whakahokia mai ai ki te iwi.
He tirohanga whakamua
E 22 ngā hapū o Ngāti Awa, e 19 ōna marae, e 17,000 te tokomaha kua rēhita ki raro i Te Rūnanga-o-Ngāti Awa. Ko te aronga o te iwi mai i te tau 1867, ko te whai paremata mō te raupatu o ōna whenua. I te tekau tau atu i 1990, he nui ngā mahi i tutuki me Te Rōpū Whakamana i Te Tiriti o Waitangi ki te whakaea i ngā kerēme a te iwi. Nō te tau 1999 ka puta te pūrongo a te taraipiunara, te Ngāti Awa Raupatu Report, ā, nō te tau 2003 ka tutuki te whakataunga. Kia ea rā anō ngā whakamau katoa, kātahi anō ka rite te kupu ōhākī a Te Mautaranui, te rangatira o Ngāti Awa me Ngāi Tūhoe:
He manu hōu ahau, he pī ka rere.