Maikuku

Members of Ngati Rahiri, look to Te Ra, the first-born son of Maikuku and Huatakaroa as our ancestral reference point which is how we differentiate ourselves from the other hapu who stem from the same marriage. Te Ra is the great-grandson of Rahiri, the ancestor who ties the whole of Ngapuhi whakapapa together and who currently reigns as the largest tribe in Aotearoa NZ.

Through his mother’s mother, TE RA was also descended in a senior line from Tahuhunui-o-Rangi, the famous ancestor of Ngai Tahuhu, the tribe which controlled Pouerua and Waitangi at the time of Maikuku’s marriage. Thus, in the 19th century, Ngati Rahiri held its land in the central Bay of Islands by rights of inheritance and occupation from both Ngai Tahuhu and Ngati Rahiri.

Our hapu Ngati Kawa, bears an ancestor's name, Kawa, being the eldest son of Tahuhunui-o-rangi; appropriate that Ngati Kawa as a hapu have chosen so distant an ancestor to stress their long history of occupancy.

Te Matarahurahu, is defined by reference to the ancestor Kauteawha, great-grandson of Te Ra, who was renowned as a fighting chief in the campaigns that ousted Ngati Miru and Wahineiti from the Waimate Taiamai area. The name of this hapu (fern-face) derives from the bracken used to cover Kauteawha’s face after he was killed in battle as a warrior. Hone Heke signed Te Tiriti O Waitangi 1840 after invoking the spirit of Kauteawha to guide him in signing this sacred covenenat. Hone Heke was the first to sign Te Tiriti by adding his name to the document and the name of his hapu Te Matarahurahu.