Taumarunui - Maori Origins

Maori Origins - Rich in History
In the Taumarunui area local Maori tribes or iwi tangata whenua include Ngati Maniapoto, Ngati Rangi, Ngati Tuwharetoa, and Te Atihaunui a Paparangi from the Tainui, Arawa, Aotea and Tokomaru canoes. Sub tribes or hapu lived in villages or kainga surrounded by fortified villages or pa's. These Maori living in the interior traded with iwi and hapu from outlying territories as well as with other hapu living along the canoe routes on the lower reaches of the Whanganui River leading out to the sea. Skirmishes between the groups meant that villages were fortified, however marriage alliances assisted peaceful relations and enhanced trade. Kumara or sweet potato was a major crop. An abundance of native birds and eels contributed to their diet also	. The European discovery of New Zealand brought many Europeans, mostly British, as settlers who put pressure on the Colonial Government to obtain land for them off the Maori. The New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860's between the Colonial Government and the Maori was over the sovereignty of land. The King Movement which is a movement to unite the different Maori tribes under one leader in order to resist land alienation fell to the honour of a chief or rangatira from the Waikato area. The first Maori King was King Potatau Te Wherowhero in 1858 and then a couple of years later in 1860 his son the second King, King Tawhiao succeeded him.	After the Waikato Land Wars of 1863-4 when a lot of Maori Land was confiscated by the Crown, King Tawhiao went into exile with his people into the area called by Europeans, the "King Country". The King Country, or Rohe Potae was a large tract of the Western Central North Island. It was unknown territory to the Colonial Government and a place of refuge for Maori. Maori's know the district as Rohe Potae (the edge or brim of the hat) which name arose - according to tribal tradition - because Tawhiao threw his hat onto a large map of the North Island in order to demonstrate the area he claimed. Within this district the "King" ruled as an independent monarch and Europeans entered his realms at their own risk. Taumarunui is the town at the "heart of the King Country".
"Heart of the King Country"