Korero Tuku Iho

Descendants of the rangatira and hapu that lived around Wairarapa Moana and Onoke Moana

The people of Wairarapa Moana are the descendants of the rangatira and hapu that lived around the two Wairarapa lakes- Wairarapa Moana and Onoke Moana.

We are also descendants of Kupe, Paikea and Maui-tikitiki himself. Our whakapapa comes from the migrations of the Kurahaupo and Takitimu waka.

Wairarapa Moana people continue to celebrate the stories of Maui. Our lake is referred to as the eye of Maui’s fish. Names like Hikurangi and Nukutaimemeha are still used for our wharenui. These names are evidence of our close whakapapa links to the iwi of the East Coast of the north island but they also show that we are from the iwi that celebrate Maui as the tipuna who first pulled this land from Te Moana nui a Kiwa- the Pacific Ocean.

The first Pacific explorer to discover Wairarapa was Kupe. The first land in Aotearoa to be seen by Kupe was at Wairarapa, when he came close to the coast at Rangiwhakaoma (Castle Point).

The people of Wairarapa Moana still celebrate our whakapapa to Kupe. He is also said to have seen Lake Wairarapa from the coastline as he travelled through the region.

Settlement

The next migrations to Wairarapa are the Hawaiki migrations that led to permanent settlement in Wairarapa.

The Kurahaupo waka landed in various places in the north island and eventually settled at Nukutaurua. From here, various rangatira moved inland and south to begin the first major explorations and settlement of Wairarapa. Over time the Ngai Tara and Ngati Rangitane iwi settled throughout Wairarapa.

There are korero of other earlier iwi in the Wairarapa. However our Kurahaupo tipuna established the first major settlements in Wairarapa and began the widespread process of taunaha whenua - the widespread exploring and naming of the region. The story of Haunui-a-nanaia is the most famous story of the naming of major geographical features of Wairarapa. Haunui is widely acknowledged as the tipuna who named our famous lake.

The story of the first Takitimu settlement of Wairarapa also relates to the original journeys of the major waka from the Pacific to Aotearoa. In our korero, after its first land-fall, Takitimu made its way from the Far North, to Tauranga and on to the Eastern seaboard. There was a Takitimu landing at Nukutaurua and then eventually on to Rangiwhakaoma - Castle Point. While at Rangiwhakaoma, the tohunga Tupai and others are recorded as deciding to settle in Wairarapa.

Takitimu then continues on its journey to Te Waipounamu - the South Island. The Ngati Kahungunu settlement of Wairarapa and particularly the lakes area takes place over many generations and is the result of many marriages, battles and peace treaties with our Kurahaupo ancestors.

The other significant iwi settlement of Wairarapa is by our Ngati Ira tipuna. Their links to Ngati Kahungunu are strong - to the extent that the two iwi are often referred to as the same thing. However our Ngati Ira tipuna have their own distinct korero of settlement of Aotearoa and eventually Wairarapa.

Through our Ngati Ira whakapapa we are mokopuna of the celebrated tipuna Paikea who is said to have travelled to Aotearoa on the back of a whale. Over time a branch of the Ngati Ira people left the north east of Aotearoa and settled in the Hawkes Bay, Wellington and Wairarapa.