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Te Āti Awa

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Te Āti Awa

Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi (tribe) with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in Wellington and 5,000 of unspecified regional location.

Te Āti Awa recognise Taranaki as their ancestral homeland. Mount Taranaki dominates the regional landscape, and many of the eight local iwi, including Te Āti Awa, regard it as sacred. The iwi also maintains a cultural association with several waterways in Taranaki, including Wai-o-ngana, Waiwakaiho, and the Waitara River. Historical lands in the Wellington region include the Hutt River delta and Lowry Bay (Eastbourne); and Waikawa, Motueka and Golden Bay in the South Island.

Te Awanuiarangi is recognised as the founding ancestor of Te Āti Awa. According to Te Āti Awa traditions, he was the product of a union between Rongoueroa and Tamarau, a spirit ancestor. Awanuiarangi is also an ancestor of Ngāti Awa in the Bay of Plenty. However, while Ngāti Awa trace their ancestry to the Mataatua canoe, some Te Āti Awa trace their origins to the Tokomaru canoe whilst others remember the connection to the Kaahui people or the people that walked in the region before the floods. Whilst Manaia and the other three captains of Tokomaru are recognized, the whakapapa for the Kaahui people is clearly of older stock as can be seen in the carved house and principal marae of Te Atiawa.

Te Awanuiarangi was known to have been born in Taranaki, around the Waiongana area, a region where some of the Kaahui people lived. After Toi-Kairaakau, Ruarangi and Rauru left with Toroa and the then budding Wairaka. The story continues that, in several North Island traditions, Awanuiarangi originally settled in the Northland region, but migrated southwards with his people following disputes with other northern iwi. Some migrants settled in the Bay of Plenty, some of whom gave rise to the Ngāti Awa iwi. Others settled in Taranaki, some of whom formed Te Āti Awa. As for the ones that returned home from their sojourn around the country (Te Awanuiarangi included), they were welcomed back to their original homeland in Taranaki with open arms.

Māori acquisition of muskets in the early 19th century saw a marked increase in tribal war campaigns. In 1819, Ngā Puhi began a campaign of conquest throughout the North Island, newly equipped with muskets brought from Sydney. Partly due to tensions with northern Waikato iwi, Te Āti Awa and other Taranaki iwi joined forces with Ngā Puhi. Armed with muskets, Te Āti Awa forces battled the Waikato iwi. Despite a decisive victory at Motunui in 1822, the Waikato forces eventually threatened to overtake Taranaki. This precipitated the first of four major migrations southwards.

In that same year, newly arrived English settlers brought increased demand for land around the Wellington area. The New Zealand Company initially bought some land from local Māori tribes; some of these land purchases would later come into dispute. A later practice saw deeds obtained from local Māori tribes allowing for the reservation of one-tenth of land for Māori use, or in exchange for land elsewhere.

European settlements began to encroach on ancestral Taranaki lands in 1841. This led to a migration of some Wellington Te Āti Awa back to Taranaki in 1848, led by Wiremu Kīngi Te Rangitāke, who opposed the sale of tribal lands to European settlers. Conflicts over land sales arose between various sub-tribes and with European settlers. In 1860, Kīngi refused an ultimatum from Crown troops to vacate his land after it was offered to the Crown by another chief. This led to the first shots of the New Zealand Wars.

Te Āti Awa in Taranaki received widespread support from other Māori, including warriors from the Māori King Movement, in their battle with the Crown, but after a strong year of fighting were ultimately defeated due to the Crown being able to bring in fighters from Australia. Under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863 and the Suppression of Rebellion Act 1863 (which the Crown enacted only directly after the war), Te Āti Awa were branded "rebels" and the Crown confiscated almost 485,000 hectares (1,200,000 acres) of their land in Taranaki. This severely undermined the political and social structures of the iwi and revealed the deceptive nature of the oppressive Crown colonial entities. To this day Te Ati Awa have not had their land returned. At least 12 members of Te Āti Awa died during the First Taranaki War.

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