Of all the islands settled by the Malehinese people, the two that make up most of Tehapu—Tinao in the north and Onuhi in the south—are by far the largest, and the latest-settled. They also maintain a relative hegemony over the other islands, in the form of tributary states. Although theoretically united under the aegis of the the ho Ngāhamu, the chosen successor of a legendary hero, the eighteen states in the region are more or less under the control of their own āma ngo wūna or "land-chiefs".
Tōmuwhe, named after an ancestral mythological figure in Malehi-Treezh culture, takes up much of the centre of the South Island. It is a relatively poor land in many ways, but the spread of red bean trees from Tumbik has provided a great deal of potential for population expansion, and there is plenty of flax to be traded for the seeds.
Rerewhe is a relatively large state on the east coast of the Southern Island, best known for its timber and jade. It has long followed the philosophy of Oodjukehng; indeed, it was the first nation on the island to convert to the new faith.
Ngahapo, named after a mythological ancestor to the Malehinese people, sits on the northwest coast of the Southern Island. Although somewhat dilapidated thanks to a recent war, Ngahapo remains a major market hub, particularly when it comes to spices from Aheya and Yandjee and fine flax from the rest of the Islands.
Āumo is a kingdom on the northeast coast of the Southern Island, named after a location near the half-mythologized ancestral island of Wūatu. The sheer natural beauty, in time, may prove enough of a commodity for tourists, but for now Āumo is best known for its jade, copper, and bronze.
Named after one of the great islands of the Proto-Malehinese, Tāpuhe sits on the eastern coast of the Northern Island, on the western side of the Bay of Bounty.
Named after an ancestor of the Malehinese people, Iminga sits on the south of the Northern Island, extending partially into the highlands. The astronomical practices of the locals have been remarked on for centuries now, but aside from information (making it something of a rarity among the Tehapuan states), Iminga also provides much in the way of rock for quarrying, allowing the local neighbours to create larger and more impressive structures.
Named after an ancestor of the Malehinese, Aramo is a northerly state on the Northern Island.
Taruhu, named after a locale on Wūatu, is located on the northernmost point of the Southern Island.
Named after a mythical (if somewhat depressing) afterlife, Wāuti is the southernmost region on the islands, and is both the largest and the least populous kingdom.
Although much shorter than those of most islands—a mere four hundred years—the history of Tehapu is nevertheless rich in culture…and conflict.
380-440 AB
The Malehinese expansion across the Orneic Ocean was usually against rather than using the currents, so as to make it somewhat easier for them to return to their home island. It thus took somewhat longer for them to arrive on the islands of Tehapu from the east. The oldest lineages, as well as the position of the ho Ngāhamu, date back to this time; the six moieties, through which all Tehapuans cycle, predate settlement.
440-784 AB
Contact with the larger island of Yandjee came within a generation, ending the apparent isolation relatively quickly. The Tehapuans gained bronze and iron, pottery, writing, textiles, and crops with considerably better yields than those they had brought with them from the tropics. In turn, their tropical crops, and jade from the islands, and the art of shipmaking, proved invaluable for the Djoolaman they met. The first chieftainships slowly evolved into kingdoms around this period.
784 AB-Present
By this time, the entirety of the islands colonized and new trade routes in the west thriving, many Ngamāhi—as the Tehapuans now call themselves, to distinguish their cultures from those of others—sailed back along the routes their ancestors took, to reconnect with the wider Malehinese world. Perhaps frustratingly for the Malehinese, by the 10th Century AB this had turned from trade to raiding-empires.