![ngapuhi hapu map ngapuhi hapu map](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2a/82/69/2a826957808a69b1f99a6ac47310340d.jpg)
The third and most significant period in Te Rarawa prehistory began with a number of waka making landfall and contributing to the evolving demographic landscape of communities throughout Te Hiku o Te Ika. These were the next wave of Te Rarawa forebears. Aboard these waka were people whose names have been remembered in our genealogy as the whānau of Kupe returning to the place he had prepared. The other, Māmari was purpose built by Nukutawhiti’s brother-in-law, Ruānui-o-Tāne. One of the waka was Kupe’s Matahourua re-adzed and renamed Ngātokimatawhaorua and captained by his grandson, Nukutawhiti. Kupe’s discovery and mana whenua in the Te Rarawa rohe was consolidated by the arrival of two waka following his directions to return to Hokianga. The naming of Te Hokianga Nui ā Kupe (Hokianga Harbour) commemorates this event and cements the first chapter of Te Rarawa history in Aotearoa between 650 and 950 AD. After circumnavigating Aotearoa and part of Te Waka ā Māui (the South Island), Kupe returned to the North to finally depart Aotearoa after about fifteen years. Kupe and his descendants brought with them an ancient model of Polynesian social organisation contained in sacred Whare Wānanga and based on values derived from common Polynesian understandings. This was achieved by the discovery, installation of tapu and the naming of numerous locations throughout Te Hiku o Te Ika and Aotearoa.
![ngapuhi hapu map ngapuhi hapu map](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/RGXNR9/pou-whenua-post-in-tuahu-sacred-enclosure-turuturu-mokai-pa-hawera-taranaki-new-zealand-ngati-tupaia-hapu-of-ngati-ruanui-are-kaitiaki-guardians-RGXNR9.jpg)
Kupe initiated the first rites of manawhenua in Aotearoa. Kupe is a well-remembered and understood ancestor of all Māori people and with one of his wives, Kuramarotini, renamed Te Ika ā Māui, as Aotearoa. Kupe the explorer ancestor introduces the next period of history. Māui, who was born of people but raised by divine elements, ended an era that we barely understand today by losing a battle with death that cannot now be won. Te Rarawa genealogy descends from Māui and the attributes of Māui are found throughout our culture and cultural institutions. Perhaps the most important icon of Te Rarawa prehistory is Māui, who is credited with discovering Te Ika a Māui and giving rise to the very first name of our region, Te Hiku o Te Ika a Māui - The Tail of the Fish of Māui. Te Rarawa ancestry flows from tūpuna like Tāwhaki, Toi and Kiwa whose lineages can be traced from numerous Pacific locations to living Te Rarawa communities of today.
![ngapuhi hapu map ngapuhi hapu map](http://www.nrait.co.nz/assets/Uploads/_resampled/ResizedImage200277-MereNako.jpg)
Te Rarawa shares a 6,000-year history of traversing the vast southern Pacific oceans. This indigenous understanding of the universe benchmarks our existence as early Polynesians. The first is cosmological, consisting of our Atua Māori. Te Rarawa Iwi Narrative According to Te Rarawa tradition, Te Rarawa’s historical development can be broken down into three main periods.