Матакана: История острова и земли маори в заливе Пленти.

Island in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand
island

19th Century: Of the 290,000 acres the Crown seized in the Tauranga region in 1865, 240,000 acres were returned to Maori between 1865 1886. The confiscated 50,000 acres did not include Matakana Island. Matakana Island is 15,000 acres. The 5000 acre western side of the island (farmland part) was purchased by Whitaker and Russell between 1869 1873. Whitaker and Russell then sold that 5000 acres on 2 April 1874 to the crown who then gave it back for no cost to the same Maori who had previously sold it. The coastal sand dunes of 10,000 acres were purchased by William Daldy of Auckland (1816 – 5 October 1903). A certificate of title under the Land Transfer Act 1870 was issued to Daldy on 3 August 1878. That transaction relates to the Wiakoura, Oturoa, Paretata, Omanuwhiri, Ohinetama, Wairaka, Pukekahu, Okotare and Hori Tupaea's Pa blocks. 20th Century: Between 1993 and 1999 the ownership of Matakana Island's forest and freehold land was in dispute. The case Arklow Investments Limited and Christopher Wingate v I. D. MacLean and others, (UKPC 51) was appealed from the New Zealand Court of Appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Matakana Island has three marae affiliated with Ngāi Te Rangi hapū. Kutaroa Marae and its Tauaiti meeting house are affiliated with Ngāti Tauaiti. Opureora Marae and its Tuwhiwhia meeting house are affiliated with Ngāi Tuwhiwhia and Ngāti Tauaiti. Te Rangihouhiri or Oruarahi Marae and its Te Rangihouhiri meeting house are affiliated with Ngāi Tamawhariua. In October 2020, the Government committed $4,871,246 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade Te Rangihouhiri Marae and 11 other Ngāti Awa marae, creating 23 jobs. There are also two marae sites on neighbouring Rangiwaea Island belonging to Ngāi Te Rangi hapū. Rangiwaea Marae and its meeting house, Te Haka a Te Tupere, are a meeting place for Ngāi Tauwhao. The Oponui Marae site, which was dismantled between the 1980s and 2007, was traditionally a meeting place for Te Ngare.

The island protects the entrance to the Tauranga harbour and stretches from Bowentown to Mount Maunganui. Matakana Island is largely covered with pine trees although some land is cleared for the residents. Matakana Island has a relatively small population density of 4.2, though still more than the West Coast(1.3 as of the 2006 Census). The island is the third largest by area associated with the North Island, or the fifteenth largest within New Zealand waters. The island's long, white sandy beach is popular with surfers. Surfers can either catch a water taxi from Mount Maunganui or paddle to the island across the mouth of Tauranga Harbour (depending on weather conditions). Matakana's surf side is a nesting site for a large number of sea birds, including the endangered New Zealand dotterel. In 2007 the New Zealand Fisheries Management Research Database recorded and estimated that there were 325 sting rays inhabiting the estuarial waters between Matakana Island and Rangiwaea Island.

Rangiwaea Island is off the south east coast of Matakana Island. It is low lying, over long and rises to , with low cliffs in places. Like Matakana, the land ownership history during colonisation is unclear, but confiscated land was returned in 1886. The main products on the island are kiwifruit, avocado, timber and cattle. Other nearby, smaller islands are Tahunamanu, Motungaio and Motutangaroa Islet. with a roll of as of .