In Hawaiki, Kupe’s canoe was re-adzed and named Ngātokimatawhaorua (‘ngā toki’ means ‘the adzes’). When he returned to Hawaiki he said, 'Ka hoki ahau? E kore ahau e hokianga mai!' (Shall I return? I shall never return!), hence the name Te Hokianga-a-Kupe (the great returning place of Kupe). Koutu, Pākanae and Whirinaki were his settlements on the southern side. Kohukohu, Te Pouahi and Whānui were Kupe’s first settlements on the northern shores of the harbour. The light struck the northern shore of the Hokianga, which he named Te Pouahi (the post of fire). The traditions say that Kupe was so awestruck by the strength of the light that he named the harbour Te Puna-o-te-ao-mārama (spring of the world of light). Guided by light reflected from the mountain Te Ramaroa, Kupe entered Hokianga Harbour. The arrival of the Polynesian navigator Kupe in the Matawhaorua canoe is legendary in the history of Ngāpuhi. Several important chiefs and priests are said to be buried there. Maunganui is a sacred mountain standing between the Kaipara and Hokianga harbours. Tūtāmoe is a guardian of the tribes around present-day Dargaville. Manaia, the main ancestral mountain for the tribes of Whangārei, is named after one of their earliest ancestors. Tokerau and Rākaumangamanga are sentinels standing at the northern and southern entrances to the Bay of Islands.
Maunga- taniwha-whakarongorua (the taniwha that hears the east and west) is the only mountain in the territory of Ngāpuhi from which both coasts can be seen. The strength of the prevailing westerly winds across the saddle joining the peaks is so strong that trees growing there are bent towards the east. Panguru and Papata, the two peaks on the northern side of the Hokianga Harbour, act like a wind tunnel. Whiria was the home of many members of the founding family of Ngāpuhi. Te Ramaroa (the eternal flame) is the mountain that guided the great navigator Kupe into Hokianga Harbour. A sacred freshwater spring near the peak is the whale’s blowhole. Pūhanga Tohorā (the whale), also known as Pīhanga Tohorā, has the shape of a whale. This is the sacred house of everlasting Ngāpuhi.Įach of the mountains that form the sacred house of Ngāpuhi has significance. Panguru-Papata faces Maungataniwha that hears Whiria faces Panguru-Papata, the trees bent by the western wind
The taproot of strife, the custom of Rāhiri Panguru–Papata titiro ki Maunga Taniwha-whakarongorua Whiria titiro ki Panguru ki Papata, te rākau e tū papata ki Te Tai Hauāuru The following chant likens the lands of Ngāpuhi to a traditional house: The territory stretches west to east from Hokianga Harbour to the Bay of Islands, and southward to Maunganui Bluff and Whangārei. Their heartland lies at Te Tai Tokerau (the northern tide) in the far north. Ngāpuhi is the largest tribe in New Zealand.