Түваретоа ілемі: Тарихы мен мұрасы

Māori iwi (tribe) in Aotearoa New Zealand

Tūwharetoa is the sixth largest iwi in New Zealand, with a population of 35,877 of the 2013 New Zealand census, and 40% of its people under the age of 15. The tribe consists of a number of hapū (subtribes) represented by 33 marae (meeting places). The collective is bound together by the legacy of Ngātoro i rangi as epitomised in the ariki (paramount chief), currently Sir Tumu te Heuheu Tūkino VIII.

Ngāti Tūwharetoa are descendants of the eponymous male warrior Tūwharetoa i te Aupōuri. He was born as in Onepu (Kawerau) ca. 1300. The main tribal areas of his people are based from Te Awa o te Atua in Matatā to Tongariro. He gains his mana principally from the powerful tohunga and navigator Ngātoro i rangi who piloted the great waka Te Arawa from Hawaiki to Aotearoa and also the great navigator Toroa of the Mātaatua waka. Ngātoro i rangi was tricked onto the Te Arawa waka by the chief Tama te kapua as it was considered good luck to have him aboard. He was originally destined to travel aboard the Tainui waka. This greatly angered Ngātoro i rangi and his disdain and animosity of the Te Arawa chief led to his leaving the group soon after arrival. In Aotearoa they made landfall at Te Awa o Te Atua, and Ngātoro i rangi departed heading inland to Te Takanga i o Apa (Kawerau area), thence to Ruawahia there he encountered the monstrous Tama o Hoi and eventually reaching Taupō district where he climbed Mount Tauhara. From Tauhara, Ngātoro i rangi made his way to Tongariro with the intention of standing on its summit and thus claiming the district as his own. While climbing the mountain a powerful southerly wind whipped his face, icy gales chiselled the warmth from his body while the frozen volcano cut painfully into his feet eventually bringing him to his knees with cold. As Ngātoro i rangi lay dying he called to his sisters Kuiwai and Haungaroa in Hawaikii, to send fire to warm him, "Kuiwai e! Haungaroa e! Ka riro au i te tonga! Tukuna mai he ahi!" (Oh Kuiwai! Oh Haungaroa! I am seized by the cold south wind! Send fire to me!) Heeding his call, they sent fire in the form of two taniwha, Te Pupu and Te Hoata. As they travelled underground the flames first erupted at Whakaari, then Rotorua and Taupō, finally bursting at the feet of Ngātoro i rangi, welling up from the large vent in the volcano’s summit, warming the tohunga and thus allowing him to achieve his goal. On the summit of Tongariro Ngātoro i rangi gave thanks and established 'Te Wharetoa o Tūmatauenga' The Warrior House of Tū – the legacy of Tūwharetoa. Ngātoro i rangi did not remain at Tongariro, instead returning to the coast to live out his life at Mōtītī Island. His descendants settled at Te Awa o Te Atua inland to Kawerau increasing over the generations until the time of Mawake Taupō, 8th generation descendant of Ngātoro i rangi. Mawake Taupō married an ariki of Hapuoneone named Hahuru, whose lineage included the original inhabitants of the area and their son Manaia would eventually take the name Tūwharetoa.

Ngāti Tūwharetoa academic Hemopereki Simon wrote that the mana, in particular the mana whenua and mana motuhake, of Ngāti Tūwharetoa is derived from the arrival of Ngātoro i rangi and that this is best demonstrated culturally through Puhiwahine's mōteatea, "He waiata aroha mo Te Toko", more commonly known as "Ka Eke ki Wairaka." The following lines from this moteatea relate to the history of Ngātoro i rangi.

Tuwharetoa FM is the official radio station of Ngāti Tūwharetoa. It began at Waiariki Polytechnic in Tūrangi in February 1991, was taken off air in late 1992, relaunched in 1993, and added a frequency reaching as far as Taumarunui. An off shot station, Tahi FM, began in February 1993 but is no longer operating. Tuwharetoa FM broadcasts on in Tūrangi, and in the areas of Taumarunui, National Park, Whakapapa and Raetihi.