Ngāti Hokopū is a hapū of Ngāti Awa, descended from Tohi Te Ururangi, a notable ancestor whose lineage includes connections to Ngāti Awa, Te Whānau a Apanui, and wider whakapapa such as Kahungunu, Toi-te-Huatahi, Te Arawa and Horouta.
The hapū is the ahi kā at Te Whare o Toroa Marae and Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki Te Rāhui Marae in Whakatāne.
Te Whare o Toroa
About Kōpū
Kōpū Digital Platform
The name Kōpū is derived from Te Kōpū o te Ururoa, the shark breeding pool below Tauwhare Pa in Ōhiwa.
The logo design represents the Ohiwa ecosystem and it’s resources. Nga uri o Ngāti Hokopū are likened to the sharks of Tairongo who return to Kōpū to heal, breed and nuture their young and is a metaphor for us returning to our own tribal waters for nourishment, enrichment and personal development. Kōpū is an ongoing development for Ngāti Hokopū to achieve digital mana motuhake according to Māori Data Sovereignty Principles.
Māori Data Sovereignty Principles
Māori Data Sovereignty (MDS) refers to the inherent rights and interests that Māori have in relation to the collection, ownership and application of Māori data.
Ngāti Hokopū follows the MDS pou of Data Infrastructure, Data Collection, Data Protection, Data Use and Reuse, Data Quality and System Integrity. To learn more go to kahuiraraunga.io
Our Vision
To grow, store and share knowledge to enrich and build hapū practise.
Our Mission
Provide Ngāti Hokopū with a positive and safe online presence according to MDS principles
Ngāti Hokopū is a hapū of the Ngāti Awa iwi and consists of ngā uri o Tohi Te Ururangi.
A descendant of Hapaingakore, Tohi Te Ururangi was raised in Te Whānau a Apanui but returned to the homelands of his great-grandmother as an adult. When he arrived at Whakatāne, a kuia from the area recognised his name and his whakapapa. As a result, he was given land at Te Whare o Toroa for him and his people to reside at.
Hapaingakore was the daughter of Ikapuku, a recognised Ngāti Awa chief from the Whakatāne area. From her descended Tamakahukore and then Tamaka, who had Tohi Te Ururangi. Therefore, while Tohi Te Ururangi can also trace whakapapa to Kahungunu, Toi-te-Huatahi, Te Arawa and Horouta, a line of descent can be drawn from the eponymous ancestors of Ngāti Awa.
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Tohi Te Ururangi had several children including Te Waiōpotango, who was the father of Toihau; Hinerina – who married Putārera and had Te Hamaiwaho; and Mataiata, who had Te Kowha and was the grandfather of Hori Kawakura.
In the 1820s after acquiring guns, which had been introduced to the Ngāti Awa rohe in the Nga Puhi raids, the grandchildren of Tohi Te Ururangi came together with allies from Ngāti Maru of Hauraki, Ngāi Tūhoe and their relations of Te Whānau a Apanui to take back control of the Ōhiwa harbour. In the preceeding decades, Te Whakatōhea had pushed out Ngāti Awa from the harbour. However, after attaining guns the Ngāti Awa fighting parties, led by Toihau and his sons – Te Ngarara, Te Keepa Hokimoana and Te Keepa Tamarangi, with allies took control of the harbour.
However, Toihau had to pay for a heavy price for campaign after his eldest son Te Ngarara was killed for previously capturing the brig, Haweis. The crew had transgressed tikanga by singeing pigs in ngā waiariki at Moutohorā and so Te Ngarara and his warriors attacked the ship. Te Ngarara took the guns and items on board the Haweis, which was left it to wash up. He also ransomed, John Atkins – who had been taken captive and held at Te Ngarara’s pā – for more muskets and gun powder.In the first act of corporate espionage in Aotearoa, a Nga Pūhi gunman was paid by the owners of the brig to kill Te Ngarara. In the surprise attack, Te Ngarara was ambushed and shot dead. Following his death his brothers Te Keepa Hokimoana and Te Keepa Tamarangi – under their father – took over the responsibilities of leading their war parties to secure Ōhiwa.
At that time, Te Hamaiwaho was the principal chief of Ngāti Awa and after he was killed in a battle during the campaign to secure Ōhiwa, his son Apanui Hope took over as ariki for Ngāti Awa.
In 1831, following several battles in which Ngāti Awa gained ascendancy, the tribe’s fighting party overwhelm Te Whakatōhea at their pa Te Papa, which was located between the harbour and Ōpōtiki.
In an account, Te Keepa Tamarangi and Hauauru Taipari recall that Ngāti Awa formed an alliance with Ngāti Maru on the attack of Te Papa. Ngāti Awa took many slaves and under the direction of Taipari they ended up at Horotiu.
During the years that followed the defeat of Te Whakatōhea, Te Keepa Tamarangi and his people lived at Te Uretara and Hokianga as well as other area within the Ōhiwa margins. As a result, Ngāti Awa occupied and had cultivations across the whole of Ōhiwa.
In the late 1830s, Te Whakatōhea remained scattered and occupied such places as Whakatāne, Hauraki, Thames, Tauranga and the Bay of Islands.
However, by the late 1840s, Apanui and Te Keepa Tamarangi had invited Te Whakatōhea back and placed them in Ōpōtiki again, giving them seed for potatoes and kūmara
Formal peace between Ngāti Awa and Te Whakatōhea took place in 1847 when the two parties met at Tauwhare Pā. But, even after this several incidents arose regarding Ōhiwa that threatened the peace between the two tribes.
It is notable that instead of resorting to arms, there was a desire particularly by Ngāti Awa to resolve the issue by negotiation. The necessity to reach a settlement over Ōhiwa became more necessary following the arrival of Pakehā in the area.
A report says: “Not long after the return of Te Whakatōhea to Ōpotiki, [Te Whakatōhea Rangatira] Titoko proposed to Te Keepa Tamarangi that the east side of Ōhiwa should be left to him, leaving the west to Te Keepa Tamarangi. That arrangement was apparently agreed to and worked well for two years until Te Keepa Tamarangi apparently sold Hokianga to a Pakehā of the name Mackey for a mare called Peti.
“Te Whakatōhea upon hearing about it went to Hokianga and destroyed the houses on the island. In return, Te Keepa Tamarangi and Hori Kawakura burnt the Whakatōhea pā named Onekawa together with their crops. The quarrel then ended.”
Therefore, the ancestral homelands of Ngāti Hokopū are from Ōhiwa Harbour, through Ōhope to Whakatāne. And now days, the hapū are the ahi kā of Te Whare o Toroa Marae and also Te Hokowhitū a Tū ki Te Rāhui Marae.
Kōpū Digital Archive
as part of this ongoing development ngati hokopu will be developing our own taxonomy for archiving, this will describe how we look at the taiao and how we relate to it as ngati hokopu.
