Our Iwi
Ngāti Manuhiri

Ko Puhinui te Whenua
Ko Puhinui te Wairere
Ko Manuhiri te Tangata
Ko Ngāti Manuhiri te Iwi
Ngāti Manuhiri are mana whenua (tribe of the area) for Puhinui (Warkworth) and the surrounding area. The iwi (tribe) has occupied this area as ahi kā (people who kept the fires burning/continuous occupation) since the 17th Century.
Te Awa Waihē (Mahurangi River) is an important waterway for the iwi, once being a major transport route inland from the inner Mahurangi Harbour (also called Waihē) and is the largest awa flowing out to Te Moana Nui ō Toi (the seaway north and east of Whāngaparāoa), within the wider Mahurangi area. The waterfalls (Puhinui Falls) at the head of te Awa Waihē are of particular significance to Ngāti Manuhiri and are considered wāhi tap (sacred). Further south of the falls there were several waka landing sites used by the people as they travelled inland from the coast.
In addition to transport, the awa was an important source of freshwater and associated resources such as tuna (eels), koura (freshwater crayfish), kākahi (freshwater mussels) and waterfowl. There was also flax and other weaving resources, plants and fruits for kai (food) or rongoā (medicine). The mature trees in the once lush surrounding bush (podocarp/broadleaf and kauri) were felled for waka.
Puhinui was a meeting place of the tribes that were whanaunga to Ngāti Manuhiri. From Puhinui at the headwaters of the awa, an overland pathway to the Kaipara began to be used for east-west trade and connecting whanau.
Te Whai Rahi (a stringray) is the guardian taniwha of the Ngāti Manuhiri people and everything we stand for as a predominantly coastal iwi.
Historically, te Awa Waihē, its resources and the important sites along its banks including Puhinui, were hugely important to Ngati Mānuhiri. As such, the awa was protected by several defensive pā. These pā, along with a multitude of other archaeological sites including kāinga (settlements) midden, pits, terraces, urupā (burial sites), gardens, ovens and wake landing sites, are indicative only of the generational occupation by the kiwi - there will be many more unrecorded sites.
Over this occupation period, several prominent rangatira (chieftains) are known to have lived in the area including Pōnui and Maeaea, the great grandson of our eponymous tupuna Manuhiri.
Puhinui is central to a number of significant places to Ngāti Manuhiri including Tohitohi ō Reipae (The Dome), Turakirae and Ōnehunga valley (now known as Kaipara Flats) to the northwest and Maunga Tamahunga (Mt Tamahunga) - the spiritual and ancestral maunga of Ngāti Manuhiri - to the east. South of Puhinui is the Pōhuehue Scenic Reserve valued as a visible and accessible remainder of the native forest that once covered the district and named after our tupuna (ancestor).
- Ngati Manuhiri
Te Awa Waihē (Mahurangi River) is an important waterway for the iwi, once being a major transport route inland from the inner Mahurangi Harbour (also called Waihē) and is the largest awa flowing out to Te Moana Nui ō Toi (the seaway north and east of Whāngaparāoa), within the wider Mahurangi area. The waterfalls (Puhinui Falls) at the head of te Awa Waihē are of particular significance to Ngāti Manuhiri and are considered wāhi tap (sacred). Further south of the falls there were several waka landing sites used by the people as they travelled inland from the coast.
In addition to transport, the awa was an important source of freshwater and associated resources such as tuna (eels), koura (freshwater crayfish), kākahi (freshwater mussels) and waterfowl. There was also flax and other weaving resources, plants and fruits for kai (food) or rongoā (medicine). The mature trees in the once lush surrounding bush (podocarp/broadleaf and kauri) were felled for waka.
Puhinui was a meeting place of the tribes that were whanaunga to Ngāti Manuhiri. From Puhinui at the headwaters of the awa, an overland pathway to the Kaipara began to be used for east-west trade and connecting whanau.
Te Whai Rahi (a stringray) is the guardian taniwha of the Ngāti Manuhiri people and everything we stand for as a predominantly coastal iwi.
Historically, te Awa Waihē, its resources and the important sites along its banks including Puhinui, were hugely important to Ngati Mānuhiri. As such, the awa was protected by several defensive pā. These pā, along with a multitude of other archaeological sites including kāinga (settlements) midden, pits, terraces, urupā (burial sites), gardens, ovens and wake landing sites, are indicative only of the generational occupation by the kiwi - there will be many more unrecorded sites.
Over this occupation period, several prominent rangatira (chieftains) are known to have lived in the area including Pōnui and Maeaea, the great grandson of our eponymous tupuna Manuhiri.
Puhinui is central to a number of significant places to Ngāti Manuhiri including Tohitohi ō Reipae (The Dome), Turakirae and Ōnehunga valley (now known as Kaipara Flats) to the northwest and Maunga Tamahunga (Mt Tamahunga) - the spiritual and ancestral maunga of Ngāti Manuhiri - to the east. South of Puhinui is the Pōhuehue Scenic Reserve valued as a visible and accessible remainder of the native forest that once covered the district and named after our tupuna (ancestor).
- Ngati Manuhiri
Ngāti Whatua
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Ngāti Wai
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Iti rearea teitei kahikatea ka taea.
The rearea (bellbird) is one of the smallest birds in the forest, yet it is capable of reaching the top of the kahikatea, the tallest tree in the forests of Tuhoe.