Ngāti Pāoa 

“Ngāti Pāoa ki uta, Ngāti Paoa ki tai, Ngāti Paoa ki tua o te pae o Matariki.” 

This whakatauākī (proverb) has two meanings. First, this whakatauākī signifies the long standing existence of the Ngāti Pāoa collective as a prosperous maritime and coastal nation. Through history, Ngāti Paoa maintained their prowess on the water in Tāmaki and Hauraki. 

Historically Ngāti Pāoa have exercised their mana throughout the western shores of Tīkapa Moana. Ngāti Pāoa ancestors expanded their rangatiratanga to the north and west, establishing a rohe which extended out from the North Shore to the islands of the Waitematā, and through Tāmaki. From the western inland areas of Tīkapa Moana, Ngāti Paoa ancestors reached deep into the plains of Hauraki and the surrounding hills. Today, the waka taua Kotūiti II pays tribute to the ancient maritime history of Ngāti Paoa ancestors. The final part of the whakatauākī – Ngāti Paoa ki tua o te pae o Matariki – refers to the ongoing aspirations of Ngāti Paoa to reaffirm the prosperity and holistic wellbeing of their people. These aspirations are expressed in this whakatauākī through the analogy of Ngāti Paoa transcending the horizons of Matariki. 

Ref: NGĀTI PAOA and THE TRUSTEES OF THE NGĀTI PAOA IWI TRUST and THE CROWN page 6

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