Te whakapapa
Ko te ingoa o te iwi o Ngāti Maniapoto i ahu mai i tō ratou tupuna i a Maniapoto. Whakaheke mai ia i ngā tāngata o te waka o Tainui i whakawhiti mai i te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa i Hawaiki ki Aotearoa.
Kei roto a Ngāti Maniapoto i te kotahitanga o ngā iwi o Tainui ka heke mai i te tupuna rongonui i a Tūrongo. Nā tō rāua moenga ko Māhinaarangi i here a Tainui ki ngā iwi o te tai rāwhiti – he mea e whakanuia tonutia ana i ēnei rā. Whakanuia ai te piringa nei i te waiata e whai nei:
Taku ara ko Tūrongo;
I wawaea ki te Tai Rāwhiti,
Ko Māhinaarangi, i au e!
Ko te rua rā i moe ai a Raukawa
Nā Raukawa ko Rereahu;
Nā Rereahu ko Maniapoto
He ara tautika mai ki ahau
Te whenua
Totoro rawa te mana o Tainui ki te nuinga o te raki o te puku o te Ika-a-Māui. Kei roto katoa ngā whenua tūturu o Ngāti Maniapoto i te Rohe Pōtae, i mōhiotia whānuitia ai taua rohe, ko Te Nehenehenui.
Ko te takutai atu i Kāwhia i te raki ki Mōkau kei te tonga, koinei te paenga whakateuru o te rohe o Ngāti Maniapoto. I tau a Tainui ki konei ā, kitea tonuhia ai te punga o te waka ki konei i tēnei rā.
Ko te roto o Ngāroto te paenga whakateraki o te rohe. I te huringa o te rau tau atu i te tau 1800 i tū te pakanga nui o Hinga-kākā ki reira. E hia mano ngā toa i tū; i te otinga ko Waikato rāua ko Maniapoto i toa.
Ko te paenga ki te rāwhiti ka haere mā ngā pae maunga o Rangitoto me Hurakia ā, ko te paenga whakatetonga ko te pae maunga o Tūhua. E kī ana te kōrero ki te rarapa te uira i runga o Rangitoto he tohu tērā o te mate.
Ngā wāhi noho o ngā tūpuna
He iti noa ō rātou papakāinga; ko te nuinga kei ngā whanga i te takutai, i ngā tahataha rānei o ngā awa me ngā kōawa pērā i a Mōkau me te whārua mōmona o te awa o Waipā. E ai ki te kōrero, noho ai te taniwha a Waiwaia ki ōna rua kei ngā tahataha o taua awa. Kei ngā maunga me ngā karahiwi te maha rawa atu o ngā pā tawhito me ngā wāhi tapu.
Ko Hikurangi tētahi o ngā pā nui o Maniapoto, kei te raki mā rāwhiti i kō atu o Ōtorohanga. Noho ai te tuahine o Maniapoto a Te Rongorito rāua ko tōna hoa tāne a Tamatehura ki tua tata, ki Te Waka, kei te taha rāwhiti o te repo o Māhaonui. Ko te kupu whakatūpato a Maniapoto, me kaua te riri e whakaputaina ki taua takiwā. Nā tēnei whakahau āna i hua mai ai te whakataukī: ‘Kei hewa ki te marae o Hine’.
Ko Te Kuiti he whakarāpopotonga mō Te Kūititanga. Koia te manawa o te rohe o te iwi. Ehara i te mea he tohu tērā te ingoa o Te Kuiti mō te kūititanga o te whenua anake, engari he kōrero e whakanui ana i a Te Kuiti, te wāhi whāiti mai ai a Ngāti Maniapoto. He kōrero tēnei mō Te Kuiti:
Te Kūititanga o Ngāti Maniapoto
Te Kūititanga o ngā maunga
Te Kūititanga o ngā whakaaro.
