E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a Te Āti Awa, i puta mai rātou i te ira tangata, i te ira atua hoki. Ka heke rātou i a Awanuiarangi, ko tōna whāea ko Rongoueroa, ko tōna matua ko Tamarau-te-heke-tanga-a-rangi, he wairua i heke i te rangi.
Ko te iwi o Te Āti Awa kei te raki o Taranaki, ko ia tētahi o ngā iwi i whakaheke i te tipuna i a Awanuiarangi. E ai ki ngā kōrero tuku iho a te iwi, he atua, he tangata a Awanuiarangi. Koia te hua o te piringa o tētahi wahine, a Rongoueroa rāua ko Tamarau-te-heketanga-a-rangi, he wairua i heke i te rangi.
Ahakoa te rerekē paku nei o ngā ingoa o Ngāti Awa o te rohe o te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi rāua ko Te Āti Awa, kotahi tonu tō rāua tipuna, ko Awanuiarangi. Ko ētahi kōrero e kī ana i noho tuatahi ngā uri whakaheke o Awanuiarangi ki ētahi takiwā o te Tai Tokerau ā, nō muri i ngā tautohetohenga ki ētahi atu iwi noho tata, ka panaia, ka heke whakatetonga rātou. Ā taihoa, ka tae rātou ki te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi, kei reira ko Ngāti Awa, ka tae rātou ki Taranaki, kei reira ko Te Āti Awa. Kāore i te mārama mēnā i nōhia ngātahitia ngā takiwā e rua nei, i nōhia rānei tētahi takiwā ā, nō muri ka nōhia ko tētahi takiwā kē.
Nō te tau 1820 ka pakaru te kotahitanga o ngā iwi o Awanuiarangi, ka tū motuhake ko tēnā iwi, ko tēnā iwi. He rite tahi ētahi o ā ratou kōrero tuku iho, ā rātou tikanga, ā rātou whakapapa. Heoi ko te kōrero he iwi tēnā, he mana motuhake, he iwi tēnā, he mana motuhake. Mārama te kitea o tēnei āhuatanga i te iwi o Ngāti Awa o te Moana-a-Toitehuatahi e here ana i a ia ki te waka o Mataatua, i te iwi o Te Āti Awa o Taranaki e here ana i a ia ki te waka o Tokomaru.
Ko te rohe o Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki kei te takutai moana i waenganui o Nukutaipari, e tata ana ki Ngāmotu, me Te Rau o te Huia e tata ana ki Motunui. I mua i te taenga o te Pākehā, i ora te iwi o Te Āti Awa i ngā hua o tēnei rohe. I tiria e rātou te whenua mō ngā kiromita e 32 i te taha moana, tae rawa ki te whenua mānia ka totoro whakauta mō ētahi kiromita te tawhiti. Ko te paenga whenua o uta kei te kōrerohia tonuhia, engari tokorua ngā pou rāhui e whakaaetia whānuitia ana arā, ko Tāhunatūtawa, tētahi kūrae kei ngā tahataha i te raki mā rāwhiti o te maunga o Taranaki, rāua ko te pae maunga o Matemateaonga kei uta.
Hūmārire te noho a ngā whakatipuranga maha o Te Āti Awa ki te rohe o Taranaki. Nō te taenga o te Pākehā ka tutū te puehu, ka raruraru te taha tōrangapū, te noho me ngā tikanga o te iwi. Nō te tau 1841 ka hohoro te tae o ngā tāngata whai o te Kamupene o Niu Tīreni, ka hīkaka ki ngā whenua mōmona o Te Āti Awa i Ngāmotu, i Waitara hei pāmu mō rātou. Nō konei ka tīmata te tutū o te puehu. I tēnei wā, he tini ngā tāngata o Te Āti Awa kei te tonga, e rapu whenua hōu ana mō rātou i te taha o ngā iwi haumi. Nō te tau 1848, nā runga i ngā akiaki a ngā tāngata whai kia hokona ngā whenua, ka hoki ngā uri e 600 o Te Āti Awa mai i ngā rohe o Waikanae, o Te Whanganui-a-Tara i raro i tō rātou rangatira a Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke.
I whakahē a Te Rangitāke i te hoko whenua ki te Pākehā, engari i te tekau tau atu i 1850 ka hokona e ētahi o te iwi tētahi wāhanga o ngā whenua o te iwi. Nō muri ka pakaru mai te riri tara whare i ngā hapū o Te Āti Awa me te toheriri ki ngā tāngata whai Pākehā. Hāunga tērā, i ngana tonu a Te Rangitāke me ngā hapū piri tata ki te rapu oranga mō te iwi mā te hoko kai ki ngā tāngata whai tauhōu i Ngāmotu e noho ana. Ka whakatipuria ngā uru rākau me te wīti, ka whakamōmonatia ngā kararehe. I hokona e te iwi ētahi kaipuke Pākehā kia pai ai te tauhokohoko ki waho atu i te rohe.
I te tekau tau atu i 1850 ko te kōrero, e whai wāhi atu ana a Te Rangitāke ki te Rōpū Pupuri Whenua Māori. He mea whakatū tēnei kaupapa nā te Māori, i waihangatia ai ki te whakatenatena i te Māori kia kaua e hokona ō rātou whenua. Ka tirohia a Te Rangitāke anō nei ko ia te kaiārahi o tēnei kaupapa, ka whakakinohia tōna ingoa e ngā nūpepa. Ka tirohia hoki a ia e ngā Pākehā noho tāone anō koia te whakaatatanga o ngā āhuatanga ‘kino’ a te Māori.
I te tau 1859 ka kitea tētahi nukarau tērā ka ea te ‘raruraru a Te Rangitāke’. Otirā i puta te kōrero, i te hiahia tētahi o ngā rangatira o te iwi, a Te Teira ki te hoko i ngā whenua kei reira a Te Rangitāke e noho ana. I tāpaea te hiahia o Te Teira kia hoko whenua ki mua i te Āpiha Hokohoko a te Karauna, i a Te Mākarini. Nā ngā kōhetehete i waenganui i a Te Rangitāke rāua ko Te Teira, ka hokona atu taua whenua e Te Teira, e raru ai a Te Rangitāke. Ahakoa te mārama pai o ngā āpiha a te Karauna ko Te Rangitāke kē te tino rangatira, kīhai i taea e Te Teira te hoko whenua i tāna kotahi anake, ka whakaae tonu rā rātou kia hokona.
Kāore a Te Rangitāke rātou ko ōna hapū i whakaae kia makere rātou i te whenua, waihoki, ka aukatia ngā kairūri e whakaoti ana i ā rātou rūri o te poraka. Ka tukuna e te Karauna tana pānui whakamutunga ki a Te Rangitāke rātou ko Te Āti Awa kia whakawātea te whenua; ki te kore, ka tonoa e ngā āpiha ngā hōia ki te puhipuhi i a rātou. Nā te kore whakaae o Te Rangitāke kia makere ia i ōna ake whenua i te marama o Maehe i te tau 1860, ka rongohia ngā pakūtanga tuatahitanga o te pakanga o Niu Tīreni, i te pupuhitanga a te Pākehā i te pā o Te Kohia, kei te tonga paku atu o Waitara.
Ahakoa te whānui o te tautoko a te Māori i a Te Āti Awa i roto i te pakanga, ka hinga rātou i te kotahi tau. Ka whakapaetia rātou e te Karauna mō te whakakeke, ka tāmia rātou, ka raupatungia ō rātou whenua. Whāia, nō te tau 1865 ka whakamahia e te kāwanatanga te 1863 Suppression of Rebellion Act me te Ture mō te Whakanoho i te Hunga Mārie (New Zealand Settlements Act) 1863 hei raupatu i te katoa o ngā whenua o Te Āti Awa ki Taranaki.
Ahakoa te whakapae a Te Āti Awa e tiaki ana rātou i ō rātou whare me ō rātou kāinga i ngā whakaekenga whakatuki a ngā taua hōia, ka haere tonu ngā mahi raupatu. Nā tēnei, ka hua mai ngā tino raru ki te taha tōrangapū, te noho a te iwi me āna tikanga hoki; ko ēnei pōraruraru e tāmi tonu nei i te iwi. I tua atu i ēnei takahitanga, i rahakina te mana o te iwi.
Neke atu i te 90 ngā hapū o Te Āti Awa i taua wā; kua tae mai ki ēnei rā e ono anake ngā hapū e ora ana: ko Ngāti Rāhiri rātou ko Otaraua, ko Manukorihi, ko Pukerangiora, ko Puketapu, ko Ngāti Te Whiti.
I te rau tau 1900, ka tāpaea e te Karauna ētahi paremata kore take ki mua i a Te Āti Awa hei whakaea i ngā mahi hē o mua. Hei tauira atu, i te tekau tau atu i 1920 i tūtohu te Kōmihana a Sim kia utua ētahi paremata, engari kāore ia i tino rangahau i ngā tino take pēnei i te whakahokitanga o ngā whenua raupatu ki te iwi, ngā wāhi tapu o te iwi, ngā taonga a te iwi.
Kia tae ki te tekau tau atu i 1930 kua whakatauhia e te kāwanatanga tētahi utunga engari kāore ia i kōrero tahi ki te taha o ngā iwi o Taranaki, tae atu hoki ki a Te Āti Awa. Ahakoa te kī a te Taranaki Māori Claims Act 1944 kua eke te katoa o ngā utu mō ngā hē i whakaputahia e te Karauna ki ngā tāngata o taua rohe, kāore pea tēnei i te tika ki tā te Māori i titiro ai. I te wā o ēnei whakatau, i te hokona tonutia, i te herea rāneihia ngā whenua i rāhuitia mō te Māori ki ētahi rīhi mutunga kore. Kia tae ki te tau 1974, kua hokona e te Public Trust te 63 ōrau o ngā whenua i rāhuitia mō ngā iwi o Taranaki.
Nā te tatauranga 2001 i whakaatu e 15,000 te tokomaha o ngā uri o Te Āti Awa. Nō te tau 1996 ka whakaae te Rōpū Whakamana i te Tiriti ki ngā takahitanga o te Tiriti o Waitangi me te tika o Te Āti Awa kia tono paremata mō ngā whenua i raupatutia. Nō te tau 1998 ka tīmata ngā whakawhitiwhitinga kōrero mō tētahi Whakaritenga mō ngā Whakataunga i waenganui i te iwi me te Karauna. Kei te mahi tahi tonu a Te Āti Awa me te Karauna e tū pakari ai te iwi hei ngā rā kei te tū.
In the New Zealand censuses since 1991, residents of Māori descent were asked to indicate the tribe to which they were affiliated. The figures below show the number who indicated the Te Āti Awa tribe of Taranaki (including those who indicated more than one tribe), and the regions where they were found in the greatest numbers.
Belich, James. The New Zealand wars and the Victorian interpretation of racial conflict. Auckland: Penguin, 1988.
Buck, A. R., and others, eds. Land and freedom: law, property rights and the British diaspora. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001.
Houston, John. Maori life in old Taranaki. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1965.
Lambert, Gail, and Ron Lambert. An illustrated history of Taranaki. Palmerston North: Dunmore, 1983.
Sinclair, Keith. The origin of the Maori wars. Wellington: New Zealand University Press, 1957.
Smith, S. Percy. History and traditions of the Maoris of the west coast, North Island of New Zealand, prior to 1840. New Plymouth: Polynesian Society, 1910.
http://www.executive.govt.nz/96-99/minister/graham/te_atiawa/index.html
Kei roto i tēnei whakaaetanga ko tētahi kōrero e whakamārama ana i ngā mahi kino i ngā rā o mua e takoto ai te whakapāha a te Karauna ki a Te Āti Awa; he paremata anō mō te taha tikanga, mō te taha arumoni.