History of the Early Ngatitoas.

At the time of the birth of Te Rauparaha, and for many generations previous to that time, the Ngatitoa tribe occupied the country between Kawhia and Mokau, and extending back from the coastline to the slopes of the Pirongia ranges and the chain of mountains which bound the valley of the Waipa and Mangarama. This tribe, in fact, claim to have held this country ever since its settlement by their ancestor, Hoturoa, a leading chief among those who are said to have come from Hawaiki in the Tainui canoe. Hoturoa is also said to be the ancestor of the Ngatiraukawa, Ngatihowhata and Ngatimaniopoto tribes, the order of descent being made as follows:—From Hoturoa, through Hotumatapu and Koume, sprang Raka, whose eldest son, Tauhawa was the father of Toa Rangatira, the actual founder of the Ngatitoa as a separate tribe, and from whom they derive their name. From another son of Raka, named Kakati, through Tawhoa and Turanga, sprang Raukawa, from whom the Ngatiraukawa derive their name. From Toa Rangatira, in direct descent, came Kimihia, who married a Ngatiraukawa woman named Parekowhatu. These two were the parents of Te Rauparaha, and of his sister Waitohi, the mother of Rangihaeata. Wai- page 25 tohi had other children, of whom a daughter, named Topiora, was still living in Otaki in 1872. She was the mother of Matene te Whiwhi, one of the most influential chiefs of the Ngatitoa and Ngatiraukawa tribes. Topiora's husband was a Ngatiraukawa man of high rank, named Te Rangi Kapiki, claimed to be closely connected to Ngatitoa through frequent intermarriages between the two tribes. Tracing back again, we find Te Urutira and his sister, Hine Kahukura, in the third place in the line springing from Toa Rangatira. From Hine Kahukura sprang Par[unclear: c]ahawaha and Parekowhatu, the former of whom married Tihau by whom she had a son named Whatanui, the father of the great chief of that name, who was at the head of the Ngatiraukawa tribe during Te Rauparaha's career. We see, therefore, that the leading chiefs of the Ngatitoa and Ngatiraukawa tribes claim descent from the same ancestors, and that frequent intermarriages took place between the members of these tribes.