Ngāti Awa

Ngāti Awa
Iwi of New Zealand
Pūtauaki, ancestral mountain of Ngāti Awa.
Rohe (region)	Bay of Plenty Region
Waka (canoe)	Mataatua
Population	15,258

Ngāti Awa is a Māori iwi (tribe) centred in the eastern Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand.

Ngāti Awa comprises 22 hapu (subtribes), with 15,258 people claiming affiliation to the iwi in 2006. The Ngāti Awa people are primarily located in towns on the Rangitaiki Plain, including Whakatane, Kawerau, Edgecumbe, Te Teko and Matata. Two urban hapu also exist in Auckland (Ngāti Awa-ki-Tamaki) and Wellington (Ngāti Awa-ki-Poneke).

Ngāti Awa traces its origins to the arrival of Māori settlers on the Mataatua waka (canoe). The Mataatua settlers established settlements in the Bay of Plenty and Northland. Initially, the tribe controlled a large area in Northland, but conflicts with other northern iwi resulted in a southward migration. One group eventually settled in the eastern Bay of Plenty, whose descendants would eventually found the iwi.

Awanuiarangi II is recognised as the eponymous ancestor of Ngāti Awa. Awanuiarangi II was a chief descended from Toroa, captain of the Mataatua. Descendants of Awanuiarangi II eventually formed their own iwi, Ngāti Awa, named after their ancestor.

Ngāti Awa was frequently at war with neighbouring iwi, including those with similar ancestry. Ngāti Awa initially had good trading relations with European settlers. However, the New Zealand Land Wars of the 1860s resulted in the British Crown confiscating more than 1,000 km² of Ngāti Awa land.

For more than a century afterwards, Ngāti Awa remained an aggrieved, struggling people. However, in 1999, the Waitangi Tribunal determined that the confiscation of Ngāti Awa land in the New Zealand Land Wars by the British Crown was illegal, and in 2003 a settlement was reached between Ngāti Awa and the New Zealand Government.