Kiwi Tāmaki
Around the year 1740, Kiwi Tāmaki angered Ngāti Whātua tribes to the north-west, by murdering guests at a funeral feast held at South Kaipara.
This led the Ngāti Whātua hapū Te Taoū to wage war on Kiwi Tāmaki and the Waiohua confederation, defeating him at a battle in the lower Waitākere Ranges.
Kiwi Tāmaki's direct descendants through his son Rangimatoru became the chiefs of the Te Ākitai Waiohua iwi based in South Auckland and around the Manukau Harbour, while relatives of Kiwi Tāmaki were married to members of Te Taoū who stayed in the region, eventually becoming the modern hapū Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, based on the Auckland isthmus and Waitematā Harbour.
[5] His mother was from the Waikato tribe Ngāti Mahuta,[6] and was a famed agriculturalist, who managed Nga Māra a Tahuri, extensive kūmara (sweet potato) plantations located between Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill and Onehunga.
[2] During the migratory season of the kākā parrot, Kiwi was based at Ngutuwera (in modern-day Chatswood on the North Shore) where birds could be snared in the forested gullies,[13] and at Te Pāhī (Herald Island).
[2] The Maungakiekie pā complex (also known as Te Tōtara-i-āhua, after a tōtara tree planted at the peak of the mountain to commemorate the birth of a rangatira) could house as many as 4,000 people.
[14] Kiwi Tāmaki's rule is associated with the time of the greatest unity and strength of the Waiohua confederation,[15] and was one of the most prosperous and populated areas of Aotearoa prior to the arrival of Europeans.
[16] Kiwi Tāmaki owned a gigantic pahū pounamu, a greenstone gong, that could be heard from across the isthmus as a calling for warriors to assemble, especially in times of war.
[12][18] Kiwi Tāmaki's sister Waikahina (also known as Waikahuia)[19] was married to Mana, a chief of Te Kawerau ā Maki, the iwi who primarily resided in West Auckland and the Waitākere Ranges.
[3] Many high-ranking members of Ngāti Whātua were also close relatives of the Waiohua ruling class, such as Tuperiri and Kiwi Tāmaki, who were cousins.
[3] Around the year 1740, Kiwi Tāmaki attended the uhunga (funeral rites) commemorating the death of Te Taoū rangatira and great warrior Tumupākihi.
[4] Tumupākihi was one of the warriors who secured Ngāti Whātua hegemony in the area, pushing Ngā Iwi (Waiohua) residents further south.
[26] After the massacre, the Waiohua war party travelled to Mimihānui pā, close by along the Kaipara River, and murdered Tahatahi and Tangihua, the sisters of the Ngāti Whātua rangatira Tuperiri.
The massacre and the extreme breach of Ngāti Whātua manaakitanga (hospitality) were seen as powerful reasons to retaliate against the Waiohua, and a Te Taoū taua was formed.
[29][11] The Waiohua war party, numbering between 3,000 and 4,000 warriors compared to Wahiakiaki's 120,[1] descended on the Te Taoū camp at Paruroa, travelling by land and sea.
As the warriors arrived, Waha-akiaki told his brother Waitaheke, "let the bird be drawn into the snare", while they pursued the Te Taoū force further up the creek.
[4] After the Waiohua hegemony in Tāmaki Makaurau fell, as the Te Taoū war party were easily able to defeat most of the central isthmus pā.
[1] Members of Waiohua who were enslaved or allowed to return to the isthmus intermarried with Te Taoū, eventually forming the hapū known as Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei.
