Te Kawerau ā Maki
Māori iwi in New Zealand
Te Kawerau ā Maki, Te Kawerau a Maki, or Te Kawerau-a-Maki is a Māori iwi (tribe) of the Auckland Region of New Zealand. Predominantly based in West Auckland (Hikurangi also known as Waitākere), it had 251 registered adult members as of June 2017. The iwi holds land for a new marae and papakāinga at Te Henga (Bethells Beach) that was returned in 2018; and land for a secondary marae at Te Onekiritea (Hobsonville Point) that was returned in 2015. It has no wharenui (meeting house) yet.
History
Te Kawerau ā Maki are the descendants of the rangatira (chief) Maki and his wife Rotu, who migrated with their family and followers from Kawhia to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) in the early 1600s. Te Kawerau trace their ancestry from a number of Māori migration canoes, particularly the Tainui, but also Aotea, Tokomaru, Moekakara, Kahuitara and Kurahaupō. Tainui ancestors including Hoturoa and the tohunga Rakataura (Hape) are particularly important in Te Kawerau whakapapa, as is the ancient turehu ancestor and tohunga Tiriwa. Maki and his people were related to a number of groups who had occupied the Auckland region since the fourteenth century, including the Tainui hapū (sub-tribes) collectively known as Ngā Oho. Maki was particularly connected with the Ngāiwi group, who lived across the Auckland isthmus and to the south from Māngere Mountain to Manurewa. Maki initially took up residence among his kin at Manurewa (Te Manurewa o Tamapahore) and Rarotonga / Mount Smart.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Te Kawerau ā Maki” as māori iwi in New Zealand. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as māori iwi in New Zealand. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7690843. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2017, 2018 and 2015.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Te Kawerau ā Maki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.