This is the true beginning of Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi as the tangata whenua who originally settled the land.

From there is the whakapapa to Te Kaahui Tara which is a hapuu of  Te Kaahui Rere:

Within the pahuki of Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi can be found place names and hapuu, prior to Aotea being named by Te Kahui Rere, that exist today – Te Ihonga, Tieke, Tapuarau, Potiki-a-Rehua, Oturooriki, Te Kiri-o-Rauru, Moerangi, Ngaa Ariki and Te Ihupuku.

From there the eponymous ancestor Rauru through generations disseminated into many hapuu, of which 12 remain active today.

This is the ancient koorero as passed down through the generations and is acknowledged by iwi within Aotea.


Accordingly, Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi existed prior to the arrival of the Aotea waka.  When Turi arrived in Patea, Taikehu was the prominent man who belonged to Te Kahui Maunga, of the Te Kahui Rere people.  The Patea River at the time was called Te Awanui-a-Taikehu (the great river of Taikehu).

Turi and his wife, Rongorongo, had four children, Tuuranga-i-mua (a son), the eldest, Taneroa (a daugher), Tutawa-whanau-moana (a son born at sea), and the youngest, Tongapotiki (who was born in Patea with the family living there).

In time the family grew prompting them to move out in different directions within Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi.  As a result of population growth Tuuranga-i-mua’s descendants moved south of Patea.  Tutawa and Tongapotiki’s issue moved to Whenuakura and Waitotara.  Taneroa’s issue moved northwest.

According to oral koorero of the elders of Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi, this was planned and through generations, through intermarriage, the knowledge about the Kahui Rere traditions declined letting its identity eventually become intermingled with the traditions of the Aotea waka.

It was during this time that whakapapa became intertwined because of the strong influence of the Aotea people.  However, koorero of the Kahui Rere and their placenames remain recognised by and significant to Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi today.  This confirms the whakapapa of Matua te kore to Rauru which existed before the arrival of the Aotea waka.

NGAA RAURU KIITAHI ROHE

The rohe of Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi at 1840 began at Kaihau-a-Kupe (the mouth of the Whanganui River).  The kainga or occupied sites at Kaihau-a-Kupe included Kaihokahoka (ki tai), Kokohuia (the swampy area at Castlecliff), Te Whare Kakaho (the Wordsworth Street area), Pungarehu/Te Ahi Tuatini (Cobham Bridge), Te Oneheke (between Karamu Stream and Churton Creek), Patupuhou, Nukuiro, and Kaieerau (St Johns Hill).

The rohe then extended from Kaieerau along the watershed to Motuhou, Kaihokahoka (ki uta), Taurangapiopio, Taumatarata, Mataimoana, Taurangakawa and north into the Matemateaonga Ranges and the area known as Tawhiwhi.

After the Matemateaonga Ranges, is the Mangaehu Stream where the Mangaehu Pa was situated, near the source of Te Awanui-a-Taikehu (Patea River).  Between Te Awanui-a-Taikehu and Whenuakura Rivers (Te Arei o Rauru) were the pa of Maipu and Hawaiki.

Many Ngaa Rauru Kiitahi pa and kainga were also situated along Te Awanui-a-Taikehu, such as Oowhio, Kaiwaka, Arakirikiri, Ngaa-papa-tara-iwi, Tutumaahoe and Parikaarangaranga.  At the mouth of the river sat the kainga and marae of Rangitaawhi and Wai-o-Turi which remain today.  Along the shoreline between Rangitaawhi and Tuaropaki lies Te Kiri o Rauru.
Between Rangitaawhi and the mouth of the Whenuakura River stood Tihoi Pa (where Te Rauparaha rested).  From Tihoi the rohe extends to Waipipi, Tapuarau, Waitotara River, Waiinu, Waikaramihi and Te Wai-o-Mahuki (near Te Ihonga).  It continues past the Ototoka Stream to Poopoia (the marae of Aokehu at the mouth of the Okehu Stream), and then continues onwards to the mouth of the Kai Iwi Stream near the marae of Taipake Tuturu.  From here the rohe stretches past Tutaramoana (he kaitiaki moana) back to Kaihau-a-Kupe.