The Whanganui District Tribunal began its process of inquiry in 2001. The District encompassed an area over 2 million acres from Whanganui to Taumarunui, and from Ohakune to the border with Taranaki. The Tribunal members were Judge Carrie Wainwright, Historian Dr. Angela Ballara, and Academics Professor Rangi Walker & Professor Wharehuia Milroy.
The Tribunal conducted 18 weeks of Hearings from March 2008 to March 2010 at venues through-out the District including Mangamingi, Te Puke, Paraweka and Tieke marae. The claimants were divided into four clusters to present evidence. The Tamakana / Uenuku claimants were included in the central cluster.
The first hearing was held at Putiki marae on the 6-10 August 2007; second week at Whanganui racecourse 27-31 August; third week at Parikino marae on the Whanganui river 10-14 September, with the fourth week at Whanganui racecourse, and Kakahi marae- 24-28 September. The first four weeks comprised the evidence of southern cluster claimants; and the evidence of claimants associated with Tuwharetoa.
Central cluster Hearings- Week 5 was held at Paraweka marae from 10-14 March 2008- with a side trip for the Tribunal to Tieke and Parinui.
Week 6 was held at Mangamingi marae from31 March-4 April 2008. The hearing was hosted by Ngati Tamakana- with most of the witnesses being from the Tamakana group of claimants. A site visit was made to the Manganui o te ao valley on Dempseys buses, stopping for lunch at Ruatiti domain, before travelling along Makakahi Rd so far as the old pa site at Taokinikini.
Week 7 was held at the Centre Raetihi for historians evidence; and week 8 was back at Mangamingi from 28 April -2 May. Week 9 was held at Te Puke Marae, Raetihi from 19-23 May for claimants associated with Uenuku.
The Northern cluster hearings were held over 3 weeks between 29 September and 10 November at Wharauroa and Morero marae. Ngati Rangi had the 13th week of the hearings between 1-7 March 2009 to present their evidence; while the Crown were given 2 weeks in May 2009 + 1 day in June (Putiki marae) and 1 day in August (Wellington) to present their remaining historical evidence.
In this inquiry the Crown fully participated in the research program by commissioning a number of reports; unlike their practice in later historical inquiries of leaving research and preparation of reports entirely to the claimants. Closing submissions were presented over 3 weeks between October and December 2009 at Taumarunui, Ohakune and Whanganui.
The Tribunal’s report was issued in 2015 and titled Hei Whiritaunoka. The title refers to Hori Kingi Te Anaua tying a knot in a taunoka at Ohinemutu in 1865, soon after the wars in that area, and saying “I have made this knot that there may be peace inland of this place”
Excerpts from Hei Whiritaunoka:
The Claimants- ‘The many claimants in this inquiry are Maori men and women who devoted time, energy and resources over many years to an important cause: pursuing justice on behalf of their tupuna, and the uri (descendants) of those tupuna who are alive today’
The claimants starting point was that they did not cede te tino rangatiratanga through the Treaty of Waitangi, though the Crown continued to act as if they had done so. It assumed power to act on their behalf, and excluded them from the political institutions of the colony.
The claimants were unanimous as to the damage caused after the introduction to the district of the Native Land Court in the late 1860s. Large scale alienation of land quickly followed the courts sittings. More land alienations continued into the 20th Century, leaving Maori with a fraction of land that remains in their ownership today.
Claimants who represented hapu with whakapapa to Tamakana included WAI 954 (Rangi Bristol and Raymond Rapana & Tamakana Council of hapu), WAI 1072 (Matiu Haitana & Ngati Ruakopiri/ Patutokotoko), WAI 1073 (Chris Ngataierua and Petuere Kiwara), WAI 1089 ( Kahukura (Buddy) and Sonny Taiaroa & Ngati Kahukurapango/ Ngati Matakaha), WAI 1191 (Eleanor Merania Taiaroa, Margaret Maki Edwards and Wairata Mathew Te Huia & Ngati Hinewai); WAI 1192 (Dean Hiroti, Garth Hiroti, Patrick Te Oro, Aiden Gilbert & Ngati Maringi) and WAI 1197 (Matiu, Henry and Adam Haitana & Ngati Tumanuka)
Hei Korowai- the ancestral cloak. The claims were variously brought on behalf of whanau, individual hapu and iwi. ‘When this Tribunal first came to the region to commence the process of inquiring into land claims, it was evident to us that, since the Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into the Whanganui River, hapu and iwi had been in a process of redefinition.. and we saw a desire for new ancestors- Ruatipua, Paerangi, Tamahaki, Uenuku and Tamakana- to come to the fore’
Te ao hurihuri-Whanganui Maori of today. An official census is taken every 5 years. Whanganui are referred to in the census as Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi. Maori make up a quarter of the population in Whanganui district. Census show a large number of Ngati Tuwharetoa living in the Whanganui district, and most (2/3) of Whanganui living outside the district. Census from 2013 says there were 11,691 members of Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi in the country.
The 2013 census show a Maori population of 668,721; with Te Ati Haunui a Paparangi only 1.75% of the total. The Tribunal considered that with the publicity and interest generated by the Hearings and Settlement process the numbers affiliating to Whanganui will greatly increase in the following census.
The Tribunal said looking at the data- that Maori suffer worse health, live in poorer housing, achieve less educationally, with a the majority unable to speak te reo Maori, and losing 90% of the land they owned in 1840- the question arises ‘How did Maori in this district come to be so badly off? And the next question for the Tribunal is to what extent was the Crown responsible’
Iwi and Hapu to 1845.
The Tribunal said the minute book record should be viewed with some caution – “Applicants were self-interested in getting a certain result, and even the most reliable records will be contested accounts of customary interests- that most records in the books are in English when the evidence will have been given in Maori means we are dealing with a translated summary- nevertheless the witness statements recorded in the minute books can provide extremely valuable insights”
Tupuna- Ruatipua- A primary ancestor of all hapu in the middle/ upper Whanganui rohe. He was an ancestor of Ngati Haua, and his descendants intermarried with many groups, including those arriving much later in famous waka- especially Aotea, Tainui and Te Arawa.
Ruatipua was an important ancestor for Tamakana and the hapu descended from him. Ruatipua was the ancestor of the middle river chief Tamakehu, and his children- Hinengakau, Tamaupoko and Tupoho.
Paerangi- The principal ancestor of Ngati Rangi, and also ancestral to many Whanganui peoples from the rivers lower reaches- Ngati Ruaka, Nga Poutama, Ngati Pamoana, Ngati Hineoneone, Nga Paerangi & Ngati Tumango. Paerangi was also an ancestor of Tamahaki.
Tupoho, Tamaupoko and Hinengakau. The report quotes Archie Taiaroa that these three tupuna were chosen for the purpose of unity- through them no-body would be excluded.
The Tribunal said- ‘It seems to us that when the Whanganui River Tribunal found that Whanganui Maori owned the river, they meant all the iwi and hapu who live along it and its tributaries- including those who do not whakapapa principally to Hinengakau, Tamaupoko and Tuopoho; but to Ruatipua, Paerangi, Maniapoto, Tuwharetoa, Uenuku, Tamahaki, Tamakana or other ancestors.
TAMAKANA -Report says ‘Tamakana was descended through his mother, Ruataupo, from the ancient Whanganui ancestor, Ruatipua. This connection gave him and his descendants within Ngati Tamakana their status as a Whanganui iwi. Tamakana also had connections to Ngati Maru, Ngati Porou and to Te Arawa. Through his father, Totokia, he was descended by five generations from Tuwharetoa, through Tuwharetoa’s son Rakeipoho.’
‘Tamakana waged repeated battles over the Taurewa district west of the central mountains, many of then against Ngati Hotu. Finally, he quarreled with his cousin Pouroto in a dispute over the mountain Taurewa, and killed him’
‘He then established pa on Taurewa mountain and nearby. Some time after Pouroto’s death, Tamakana and some of his followers and descendants moved to Manganui o te ao and made their principal home among kin there. Ngati Tuwharetoa then sought utu for the death of Pouroto and sent a raid against the people of Manganui o te ao.’
‘In response Ngati Tamakana (under Tohiora, Turahui, and others) attacked Waitahanui and other pa at Taupo. Ngati Tuwharetoa were seriously defeated and lost many ancestors in single combat with Turahui, until Tukino (an ancestor of the Te Heuheu whanau) managed to defeat and kill him. It is said that Tamakana himself was eventually killed near Rotoaira by Ngati Tuwharetoa. Only his head remained: his kin bought it back for burial at Tiekitahi urupa (also known as Te Rena urupa) near the junction of the Whakapapa and Whanganui rivers.’
‘Tamakana married women from the Manganui o te ao and the descendant’s of his three grandchildren (Tangowhara, Tukiriwai and Tuatapa) became established there and also west of Tongariro and Ruapehu on the Waimarino plains. Inter-marriage took place with Ngati Tamakana’s allies and neighbours such as Ngati Hikairo at Taurewa, and at Manganui o te ao with Ngati Uenuku, Te Patutokotoko and their communities of smaller hapu.’
The Reports lists the following hapu that descend from Tamakana: Ngati Atamira; Ngati Maringi; Ngati Waikaramihi; Ngati Tumanuka; Ngati Hinetaro; Ngati Tukaiora; Ngati Tawewe; Ngati Kahukurapane; Ngati Kawhiterangi; Ngati Tara; Ngati Kowhaikura; Ngai Hinekoropango; Ngati Taipoto and Ngati Kahukurapango.
And the following chiefs- Tukaiora; Te Pikikotuku; Te Whetu Kakahi and his son Winiata Kakahi; Te Wharerangi and his son Matuaahu; Te Rangihuatau; Kaiaroto; Te Riaki; Uenuku Tuwharetoa and his son Taurerewa Tuwharetoa; and Hitaua and his son Pehi Turoa and Te Pehi’s descendants.
Hapu- Ngati Matakaha- Ngati Matakaha are descended from Taitemeha, hinmself a direct descendant of Tamakana. Once described as a hapu of Ngati Ruru of Painui, Ngati Matakaha in fact had multiple connections to other ancestors- not only Tamakana, but also Tamahaki and Uenuku. Buddy Taiaroa made a claim to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of his tupuna of Ngati Matakaha.
Ngati Ruakopiri- ‘Originally Ngati Ruakopiri were living at Matahina in the Bay of Plenty along with other early peoples such as Ngati Hotu’
‘After many battles and wanderings Ngati Ruakopiri moved west to the Manganui o te ao and the Waimarino plains. In the early to mid-nineteenth century, after generations of inter-marriage with Whanganui groups they became part of the regional collective under the Turoa whanau known as Te Patutokotoko.’
Ngati Tumanuka were descended from Tamakana. Tumanuka himself was the child of Waikaramhi and the father of Tukaiora- ancestor of Hitaua, father of Te Pehi Turoa; and Hiatua’s half-brother Te Pikikotuku. Ngati Tumanuka were associated with the collective known as Te Patutokotoko.’
Ngati Whaikiterangi are descended from Tamakana and his uri Tumanuka, but are also associated with Ngati Uenuku. Ngati Whaikiterangi also had rights at Ohotu- where they were granted an owner- occupier reserve at Ohotu 1 in 1905 called Oruakukuru, named after the pa site on a ridge on the boundary of the reserve.
Ngati Uenuku- The Ngati Uenuku hapu was descended from Tukaihoro’s son Uenuku. This ancestor had complex relationships with the ancestors of many neighbouring iwi and hapu. He was the grand-child of Hinetoke, a half sibling to Tamahaki. He was the father of Tuparua, and the ancestor of Kahukurapane. Uenuku’s brother was Tuhurakia, who with his wife Parekitai (Ngati Pare) was the parent of Hekeawai and Puku.
Ngati Rangi Trust said that Ngati Uenuku were descended from Uenuku manawawiri, but the Tribunal said it knows of no connection between Ngati Uenuku and Uenuku manawawiri- ‘We do not know of any links (save through later inter-marriage) between this Uenuku and Uenuku manawawiri, child of Taiwiri. Ngati Uenuku manawawiri are discussed under Ngati Tuera of the southern cluster.’