The Arawa people at an early date also contributed its quota to the population of Tamaki. Arriving on the East Coast (at the same time and place as the Tainui) this canoe likewise made a coastal exploration. Eventually its people settled down at Maketu (Bay of Plenty), Tamatekapua, their leader, having remained at Moehau (Cape Colville), where he died. From there his children spread throughout the Coromandel peninsula and the islands of the Gulf, and were known as Ngati-huarere (Huarere being Tamatekapua’s grandson). We are told that Ihenga, a brother of Huarere, lived at Tamaki for some time, and at Kaipara. These early Arawas left descendants here, and through them the Tamaki chiefs thus claimed an Arawa lineage. The Ngati-Huarere are said to have occupied fortified villages at Orakei, Fort Britomart, Queen Street, Three Kings and other places, until the final conquest of the Tamaki Isthmus, as hereinafter related. Kahumatamomoe, another son of Tamatekapua, having quarrelled with his brothers and relatives at Maketu, came to Tamaki, and is said to have lived at Orakei with other relatives already settled there, hence the name of the village at Orakei—“Okahu.” Going on to Kaipara, he permanently resided there.
VI
The Matatua Canoe
This immigrant canoe was also an important factor in populating the Tamaki Isthmus. Its people had settled at Whakatane, and were remarkable for their restlessness. Parties of this tribe, known under the general name of Ngati-Awa, were always on the move. They are reputed to have formed an important element of the One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie, lofty hill) people. The Owairaka (Mount Albert) pa belonged to this people. The Ngati-Awa chief Titahi, who lived in Tamaki and Kaipara for some time, is said to have instructed the local people how to perfect their fortifications. Hence one name for the terracing and earthworks (so conspicuous a feature of the hills of Tamaki) was “Nga-whaka-iro-a Titahi”—“The decorations of Titahi.”
The intrusion of these various immigrant parties no doubt was not peacefully accomplished, and almost continuous warfare marks the history of the next few centuries, as the direct result of the jealousy between rival chieftains and the struggles of the respective tribes to maintain and extend their territories.
VII
The Aotea Canoe
This important canoe, commanded by the famous Turi, also visited the Tamaki, the crew eventually settling at Patea, in the South, but Turi’s son, Turanga-i-mua, became dissatisfied with that place, and about 1400 A.D. he came to Tamaki with a war-party, moving on to Hauraki and other places, finally returning to Tamaki. Tu’ soon came into conflict with the local people, whom he defeated in the battle at Waitaramoa (the creek at the head of Hobson Bay), and then occupied the pa at Onepuwhakatakataka (the headland at Orakei, opposite Parnell). There he lived for some time, and again left for the South, leaving a large number of his people in possession of this locality, where they occupied several villages. By intermarriage, the Aotea people appear to have soon lost their tribal unity, and from them the Tamaki chiefs of a later time were proud to claim an ancestral descent.
VIII
Ancient Maori Society—A Retrospect
Before going any further, a brief outline of the daily life of the Maori community should be of interest.
The tribes of Tamaki lived in village communities, each hapu, or community, consisting of a group of families, more or less closely inter-related, and governed according to various customary usages by their hereditary chiefs. These communities collectively acknowledged the superior prestige of an Ariki, or hereditary high chief.