Muriwhenua
ethnic group
Muriwhenua are a group of northern Māori iwi, based in Te Hiku o te Ika, the northernmost part of New Zealand's North Island. It consists of six iwi, Ngāti Kurī, Ngāi Takoto, Te Pātū, Ngāti Kahu, Te Aupōuri and Te Rarawa, with a combined population of about 34,000 people. The spiritually significant Hokianga Harbour, located just to the south of the Maungataniwha Range, is of special significance to the Muriwhenua people.
The name Muriwhenua means "end of the land", describing the rohe (traditional tribal lands) of the iwi, extending up the North Auckland Peninsula from the Maungataniwha Range to Cape Reinga. The name Te Hiku o te Ika translates as the tail of the fish, meaning the end of the North Island, which in Māori mythology is the fish Māui caught (known as Te-Ika-a-Māui, or literally The Fish of Māui. Elders sometimes say the head of the fish is the New Zealand capital city of Wellington, but it can only go where the tail will allow.
History
Early history
According to Muriwhenua tradition, the great waka navigator Kupe discovered the region, mistaking Houhora mountain, north of Kaitaia, for a whale. The crew of his waka explored from Cape Reinga to Parengarenga Harbour, including Karikari Peninsula, Tokerau Beach, Whangaroa Harbour and Matauri Bay. According to one tradition, he followed a current to Hakarara mountain in Matauri Bay. According to another, he landed in Hokianga Harbour, and on his return to Hawaiki, created waves which reached the coast of Ninety Mile Beach.
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This entry incorporates text from “Muriwhenua” 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.