Ngati Kuia : He Putake, Hei Pakiaka Ora | A History

Ngati Kuia are tangata whenua of Te Tauihu-o-Te-Waka-a-Maui (the northern South Island). Descended from the ancestress Kuia, their whakapapa sits within a rich and complex Maori lineage, connecting with the stories held by neighbouring iwi – particularly the other Kurahaupo waka groups. Their networks also stretch towards the head of the country, linking to iwi originating from the East Coast of Te Ika-a-Maui (the North Island), such as Ngai Tahu, Ngati Kahungunu, Muaupoko, and ultimately back to the Polynesian homelands, Hawaiki.

Drawing on hundreds of whakapapa, purakau, waiata and karakia recorded in nineteenth-century tribal manuscripts and court records, Madi Williams presents Ngati Kuia history in Ngati Kuia voices. From the stories of such tipuna as Kaikaiawaro and Hinepopo, through early encounters with neighbouring iwi and European settlers, to recent events such as the Treaty settlement process, this expansive account places Ngati Kuia at the heart of the region’s living, layered history.

As Te Kenehi Teira observed during the Ngati Kuia Treaty claim, the history of the iwi resembles ‘one huge jigsaw puzzle – you have to find all the pieces and put them together’. In this book, the pieces finally sit alongside one another.