Ngāti Rēhia
Our History

Ko Tokerau te tūtei

Ki te hauraro o te pūaha

Ko Rākaumangamanga ki te Rāwhiti,

E rere atū nei Te Kerei Mangonui

Te Awa o ngā Rangatira

E tū mai rā Te Pā o Kororipo.

Titiro whakararo ki Orongo ki Tākou Awa

te wahi i mataaraaratia ai e Puhi,

te waka tūpuna a Mataatua e moe mai rā.

Whiti  whaka te uru

Ki te ngāherehere nui o te Puketi.

Ko Ngāpuhi nui tonu te Iwi

Ko Whitiora, ko Hiruharama Hou, Ko Whetu Mārama ōnā marae

Tihewa mauri ora, ki te Wheiao

Ki te Ao Mārama.

Pohutu noa atu ki  te moana o Omapere

āwhiowhio ki te rangi

kei runga Whakataha maunga.

Kei raro ko te awa o Waitangi

ka hirere ki Pokākā

tōtika te whatumanawa o  Īpipiri

Ko Ngāti Rēhia te hapū

Ko Ngāpuhi nui tonu te Iwi

Ko Whitiora, ko Hiruharama Hou, Ko Whetu Mārama ōnā marae

Tihewa mauri ora, ki te Wheiao

Ki te Ao Mārama

Tokerau is the sentinel mountain that stands at the northern aspect of the harbour mouth

Rākaumangamanga stands to the east.

Both Te Kerei Mangonui and Te Awa o ngā Rangatira flow there-ward

Where stands Kororipo Pā.

Gazing northward to Mount Orongo and Takou river

the territory causiously gaurded by our ancestor Puhi,

the ancestral canoe Mātaatua there gently sleeps.

Before crossing westward

to join the great forest of Puketi.

Sweep past and onward to Lake Omapere

we turn rising skyward

to Whakataha mountain.

The fountain head of Waitangi river below

gushing eastward to Mount Pokākā

inexorably to the heart of the Bay of Islands.

Ngāti Rēhia the Tribe

Ngāpuhi the Nation

Whose marae are Whitiora, Hiruharama Hou and Whetu Mārama

This breath drawn life animates the emergent World

Into broad daylight.