About Us
Ngātiwai descend from Manaia (the rangatira of Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi or Ruakaramea waka, and some say even Moekākara) and his uri of Ngāti Manaia and Tāhuhunuiorangi. Ngātiwai iwi possess one of the oldest whakapapa lineages of tribes in Te Tai-tokerau. Descending from Manaia II to Whāpapa and Wairua came important ancestors such as Torematao, Te Rangapū and Te Rangihōkaia. From Te Rangihōkaia came Rēhua, Haua, Repongāhau, and Hikihiki being a major kāwai whakaheke of Ngātiwai. Ngātiwai can also trace it’s ancestry through to Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Whātua, Te Kawerau ā Maki, and some of the older tribes of Te Tai-tokerau such as Ngare Raumati, Ngāi Tāhuhu, Ngāti Tū, Ngāti Paeahi and some Hauraki hapū.
The history of Ngātiwai is intimately connected with the coastal waters and the traditions at Manawāhuna, a cave beneath the island of Motu Kōkako and other tapu places by the sea. Well known as coastal raiders and traders, Ngātiwai’s customary takiwā, both land and sea, spans from Rākaumangmanga (Cape Brett) in the north to Takatū Point in the south, and eastward to the islands of Hauturu and Aotea (Piki Pāria) back north to Marotiri and Tāranga to and including other offshore islands, onwards to Aorangi and Tāwhiti Rahi (Poor Knights) returning to Motu Kōkako and Rākaumangamanga.
Today, most of the tribe live north and south of Whangārei or in Tāmaki Makau-rau or are dispersed around other parts of the country.
Ko ngā kāwai whakaheke Māori.
In the 2006 Census:
- 4,866 people (or less than 1 % of the total Māori population) belonged to Ngātiwai, an increase from 3,963 people identified in 2001.
- 32% of Ngātiwai indicated that Ngātiwai was their sole iwi.
- 80 % of Ngātiwai iwi members live in urban areas with the majority of our people living either in Te Tai Tokerau (1830) or Tāmaki-makau-rau (1749), followed by Waikato (437), Wellington (273), and Bay of Plenty (216).
- 36 % of Ngātiwai were under the age of 15, 23% aged 15–29 years, 36% aged 30–64 years and only 5% were 65 years and over.