Betty is a descendent of the Ngati Awa. The Ngati Awa traces it's origins to the arrival on the Maori settlers on the Mataatua waka (canoe) who established themselves in the Bay of Plenty and Northland. The Mataatua is one of the great voyaging canoes which the Polynesians used to migrate to New Zealand.
The Mataatua Canoe
The Ngati Awa migrated from the north in about 1600 due to conflicts with neighboring iwi (tribes). One group went down the coast to Waitara in Taranaki and the other group went east to Tauranga. In the mid-1880s the Ngati Awa started to trade with the European settlers. Relations went well until 1866 when under the pretext of punishment for rebellion the Nagati Awa and their neighbouring Nataatua relations had their land confiscated. Hamiora Tamutar Pio, a paramount chief of the Ngati Awa, describes the effect of losing their lands:
"This is a fact; I live like the Albatross,
Crying out to its nesting place, and greeting you in sorrow."
This injustice was not rectified until 2003 when a settlement agreement was put in place. Today there are about 17,000 people registered with the Te Runanga-o-Ngati Awa.
A carving representing Tihori, ancestor of the Ngati Awa.
Credits to the "Ngati Awa today". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. March 2009
The Ngati Awa migrated from the north in about 1600 due to conflicts with neighboring iwi (tribes). One group went down the coast to Waitara in Taranaki and the other group went east to Tauranga. In the mid-1880s the Ngati Awa started to trade with the European settlers. Relations went well until 1866 when under the pretext of punishment for rebellion the Nagati Awa and their neighbouring Nataatua relations had their land confiscated. Hamiora Tamutar Pio, a paramount chief of the Ngati Awa, describes the effect of losing their lands:
"This is a fact; I live like the Albatross,
Crying out to its nesting place, and greeting you in sorrow."
This injustice was not rectified until 2003 when a settlement agreement was put in place. Today there are about 17,000 people registered with the Te Runanga-o-Ngati Awa.
Credits to the "Ngati Awa today". Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand. March 2009
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