This is a welcome from our (Iwi) tribal hosts in Whakatāne and an introduction to their history and vision.

E ngā mana tiketike ī te whānuitanga ō Awanuiārangi tuatahi, Awanuiārangi tuarua, oti rā ngā uri ō Ngāti Awa, “Ngāti Awa te toki-whakatangatanga i te rā” mai i Te Kākahoroa – Whakatāne -Te Puku ō Te Wheke me ōna ngongotua toro atu ki ngā kokonga ō Te Ao-hurihuri” anei ngā mihi matihere ā mākuikui.

Wherever our personal aspirations and ambitions take us globally, we pledge our memories to our departed ones, the myriads who have returned to the bosom of mother earth and spiritually to the many heavens and who have left their legacy behind to remind us that we as their descendants have a responsibility to continue the traditional and contemporary practices according to custom of our Ngāti Awa culture. At this moment, let us share our tears and memories as we reflect in private reminiscence.*

Kia huri ake ki ō tātou tini aitua e napu nei i te whenua i tō rātou hinganga, ki ō tātou mate tārūrūnui kua poto atu nei ki te kāpunipunitanga ō ngā wairia ki paerau, kua riro atu ki ngā Hawaiki katoa, rātou te tutūtanga ō te puehu te whuinga ō te kupu, te whakarāwaitanga i te kōrero i ngā wā i takatū ai rātou. Waiho mā hupe me roimata hei whakaea.

To you the exalted descendants of our illustrious eponymous ancestors Awanuiārangi the first and Awanuiārangi the second, the Tīpuna who became the genesis of our tribe “Ngāti Awa” a tribe that was at one time so powerful it was likened by some tribes as “Ngāti Awa te Toki-wakatangtanga i te rā” – “Ngāti Awa the adze that could loosen the sun”.

From “Te Kākahoroa-Whakatāne” also referred to in times gone by as “Te Puku ō Te Wheke” (Centre of the octopus) whose “Ngongotua” (tentacles) spread our Ngāti Awatanga to the four corners of the world.

Ngāti Awa trace their origins from a number of early ancestors, including those who lived in Aotearoa prior to Māori occupation and later from those who travelled from Hawaiki on the Mataatua waka. Over centuries, Ngāti Awa held influence over many parts of the country. Today, the ancestral homeland of Ngāti Awa is located within the eastern Bay of Plenty of the North Island.

Pūtauaki is the ancestral mountain of Ngāti Awa. The four rivers of Tarawera, Rangitāiki Oriini and ōhinemataroa are also central to iwi identity. Over time, Ngāti Awa held mana whenua in the rohe bounded by Pongakawa in the west, ōhiwa in the east, inland to Matahina, Maungawhakamana, P?kuhu, and back to Pongakawa. The islands of Mōtītī, Rūrima, Moutohorā and Whakaari are also recognised as being important ancestral lands associated with Ngāti Awa.

For many centuries the boundaries of Ngāti Awa were continually tested and confirmed through rivalry, conflict and dispute with neighbouring iwi.

Ngāti Awa was an autonomous, independent and self-governing confederation of hapū prior to 1865. Of the twenty two hapū that comprise Ngāti Awa, twenty are traditional and two are urban based. The traditional hapū of Ngāti Awa are; Ngāti Hokopū – Te Whare o Toroa, Ngāti Hokopū – Te Hokowhitu a Tū ki te Rahui, Ngāti Wharepaia, Ngāti Pūkeko, Ngāti Rangataua, Ngai Tamapare, Te Patuwai, Ngāti Maumoana, Ngai Taiwhakaea II, Ngāti Hikakino, Ngai Te Rangihouhiri II, Te Tawera, Nga Maihi, Te Pahipoto, Ngai Tamaoki, Ngai Tamawera, Tuariki, Warahoe, Ngāti Hamua and Te Kahupake. The two urban based hapū are; Ngāti Awa ki Tamaki at Auckland and Ngāti Awa ki Poneke at Wellington. These various hapū affiliate to nineteen marae located in Whakatāne, Te Teko, Matata, Auckland and Mōtītī Island. Today, around 15,000 people are affiliated to Ngāti Awa, making it the tenth largest iwi in Aotearoa.

* this is not a translation of the paragraph above, it is the English translation of a susbequent paragraph of the introduction.