Ko Ngāti Kahungunu te tuatoru o ngā iwi nui rawa ki Aotearoa. Ahakoa karangahia ai he iwi, he tika ake pea kia kīia a Ngāti Kahungunu, he tōpūtanga o ngā iwi me ngā hapū, i heke i a Kahungunu.
Ko ngā wāhanga nui o te iwi ko:
- Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa (ko te paenga whenua ki te raki ko te pae maunga o Wharerata kei te taha tonga o Tūranganui-ā-Kiwa
- Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga (ko te paenga whenua ki te rāwhiti ko Te Matau-ā-Māui)
- Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa (ko te paenga whenua ki te tonga ko te pae maunga o Rimutaka kei Te Wairarapa ki te tonga)
I tua atu i te wāhi mahinga kai, he ara matua, he huarahi nui ngā awa, ngā roto me ngā whanga maha kei te rohe o Ngāti Kahungunu.
He rite ki te awa
Wairoa hōpūpū, hōnengenenge
E kōrero ana te whakataukī nei mō te hūkeri o te awa o Wairoa, ōna ia kōmiro, me te rite o ngā tāngata o konei ki tō rātou awa.
Te Whanganui a Orotū
Ko ngā tino pā tautiaki i te rohe o Ahuriri ko Ōtātara rāua ko Heipipi, engari arā anō ētahi atu pā. He maha ngā kāinga kapi ai i ōna taha. Nui te mātaitai me ngā mahinga ika ki Te Whanganui a Orotū. Kei ōna awa, ōna kōawa, ōna repo te mahi a te tuna, te koura wai māori, te harakeke me te raupō. Ko ngā moutere i te hāpua o Ahuriri (nā te rū i hiki i te tau 1931) ngā wāhi hī ika, ko ngā whenua mōmona kei ōna takutai i pai mō te whakatū whare me te whakatipu kai.
Te roto o Hātuma
Kei ngā tahataha o tēnei roto (i mōhiotia tuatahitia ko Whātuma) e pātata ana ki Waipukurau, ngā mahuetanga o ngā puni me ngā kāinga. He rite te roto o Hātuma ki te ngahere o Ōtāia (he kōhanga kawau) me te awa o Tukituki, arā he takiwā nui mō te mahi kai.
Ngā maunga
Ko Whakapunake te maunga i mau ai te matau a Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga i a ia ka hī ake i tana ika nui. E tū ana te maunga nei ki te pito whakateraki rawa o ngā whenua o Ngāti Kahungunu, kei waenganui i a Tūranga me Te Wairoa.
Hei ēnei rā, e tata ana ki te hāpua o Whakakī kei te rāwhiti o Wairoa, ka kitea tonuhia ngā puke e whitu: Ko Tahutoria, ko Takitaki, ko Korito, ko Onepoto, ko Iwitea, ko Tūhara, ko Hikunui. E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho, he tohorā ēnei i hurihia hei puke. Ki a Ngāi Tahu Matawhāiti, he hapū nō Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa, he tapu ēnei hiwi.
Ko Maungaharuru kei waenganui o Te Wairoa me Ahuriri. Koinei te wāhi i whakatauhia ai e Tūpai, tētahi o ngā tohunga tokotoru o runga i te waka Tākitimu, te mauri (he taonga whakairo mai i te rākau) o te manu. Ko te tikanga o te ingoa o ‘Maungaharuru’ ko ‘te maunga haruru ana i te rere o te tini manu’.
E ai ki te kōrero, ko te tihi o Te Mata me ngā puke ki te tonga tae atu ki Kahurānaki, (e pātata ana ki Havelock North) i hangaia mai i te tinana o te tipuna Rongokako, nāna ngā tapuwae nui i waiho ki Kahurānaki, ki Kirihaehae, ki Whāngārā hoki. Ka kitea tōna tinana mehemea ka taraiwa atu i Heretaunga ki te tihi o Te Mata.
Ngā pā
Ko te pā o Te Pakake i tū ki Ahuriri. Nō te whakaeketanga o ngā toa mau pū e 2000 o Waikato, o Ngāti Raukawa, o Tūwharetoa, o Ngāti Maniapoto i a ia, ka hinga te pā. He nui ngā rangatira i hinga, a Whakatō, a Pakapaka, a Humenga, a Te Hauwaho me ētahi atu. Ko te ingoa o Te Pakake, hei maumaharatanga i te pakanga nei, e whakarite ana i ngā toa i hinga ki te pakake kua pae ki uta.
Ko Rākaihikuroa te mokopuna a Kahungunu, nāna te pā o Puketapu i whakatū. E 70 ngā tāngata o Ngāti Māmoe i hinga, i a rātou ka pakanga ki a Ngāti Ira. Ko te pā o Puketapu e pātata ana ki Ōmāhu.
