Te Aupōuri is the northernmost Māori iwi

Iwi

In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...

 (tribal group), located north of Kaitaia

Kaitaia

Kaitaia is a town in the far north region of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula which is about 160 km northwest of Whangarei. It is the last major settlement on the main road north to the capes and bays on the peninsula...

, Northland, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, a region known as the Aupouri Peninsula

Aupouri Peninsula

The Aupouri Peninsula is a tombolo at the northern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. It projects between the Tasman Sea to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east...

.

The ancestral legend

In Māori

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

, Te Aupouri means "The Dark Cloud". According to legend, the Te Aupōuri came into conflict with the Te Rarawa. The battle between to two eventually caused two other chieftains, Te Ikanui and Wheru, to become besieged in their pā

Pa

-Places:* Pâ, a town in Burkina Faso* Pâ Department, a department in Burkina Faso* PA postcode area, in Scotland* Province of Palermo, Italy* Palo Alto, California* Panama, ISO country code** .pa, the country code top level domain for Panama...

 in Pawarenga on Whangape Harbour

Whangape Harbour

Whangape Harbour is a harbour on the west coast of Northland, New Zealand. There is a settlement also called Whangape on the northern side of the harbour, and another called Pawarenga on the southern side. The Herekino Harbour and settlement are a few kilometres to the north, and the Hokianga is to...

. To mask their escape, they burnt their possessions and escaped under the cover of the smoke, hence the reference to the "Dark Cloud".

The following is the iwi's chant:

Māori	English translation
Ko Tawhitirahi te maunga	Tawhitirahi was the mountain
Ko Te Awapoka te awa	Te Awapoka was the river
Ko Pārengarenga te moana	Pārengarenga was the sea
Ko Pōtahi te marae	Pōtahi was the marae Marae A marae malae , malae , is a communal or sacred place which serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies...
Ko Waimirirangi te wharehui	Waimirirangi was the wharenui Wharenui A wharenui is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a marae. Wharenui are usually called 'meeting houses' in New Zealand English.-Wharenui:...
Ko Te Rongopātūtaonga te wharekai	Rongopātūtaonga was the eating hall
Ko Te Kao te kāinga	Te Kao was the settlement
Ko Te Aupōuri te iwi	Te Aupōuri was the tribe
Tīhewa mauri ora	It is life

Ruanui and the polynesian rat

Polynesian Rat

The Polynesian Rat, or Pacific Rat , known to the Māori as kiore, is the third most widespread species of rat in the world behind the Brown Rat and Black Rat. The Polynesian Rat originates in Southeast Asia but, like its cousins, has become well travelled – infiltrating Fiji and most Polynesian...

s

According to the traditions of the Aotea

Aotea

Aotea can refer to:*Great Barrier Island*Aotea Square, a square in downtown Auckland*Aotea Harbour, a natural harbour in New Zealand*Aotea , traditional canoe by which some Māori settled New Zealand...

, Horouta

Horouta

In Māori tradition, the canoe Horouta belonged to Toi. The story goes that Kahukura, a man from Hawaiki, introduced kūmara , to the locals who had never had anything like it before. In order to obtain more kūmara back in Hawaiki Toi gave the canoe to Kahukura...

 and Māmari

Mamari

In Māori tradition, Māmari was one of the great ocean-going, voyaging canoes that was used in the migrations that settled New Zealand.Mamari was the 3rd waka to arrive with the tangata Ruanui. The traditions of the Aotea, Horotua and Mamari waka...

 ancestral canoes, kiore (polynesian rats) were passengers on their voyages from Hawaiki

Hawaiki

In Māori mythology, Hawaiki is the homeland of the Māori, the original home of the Māori, before they travelled across the sea to New Zealand...

 to New Zealand. Carvings on a window frame of Te Ōhākī marae at Ahipara

Ahipara

Ahipara is a town and locality in Northland, New Zealand. It is at the southern end of Ninety Mile Beach, with the Tauroa Peninsula to the west and Herekino Forest to the east. Ahipara Bay is to the north west...

 depict the story of Ruanui's rat, Ruanui being the captain of the Māmari canoe. On arriving in Hokianga Harbour, he released his rats onto an island now called Motukiore "rat island".

Notable Te Aupōuri

• Ralph Hotere
  Ralph Hotere
  Hone Papita Raukura "Ralph" Hotere is a New Zealand artist of Māori descent . He was born in Mitimiti, Northland and He is widely regarded as one of New Zealand's most important living artists...
  
  , artist
• Shane Jones
  Shane Jones
  Shane Geoffrey Jones is a New Zealand politician. He was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.-Early life:Jones is Māori, of Te Aupōuri and Ngai Takoto descent, as well as having Dalmatian ancestry...
  
  , politician
• Stacey Jones
  Stacey Jones
  Stacey William Jones, ONZM is a professional rugby league footballer, who has been named amongst the greatest New Zealand has ever produced. He currently plays for the Point Chevalier Pirates in the Auckland Rugby League's Phelan Shield...
  
  , Rugby League Player
• Rolly Jones, Drainlayer
• Anika Moa
  Anika Moa
  Anika Rose Moa is a New Zealand pop recording artist. In 2001 she signed to Atlantic Records in the United States and released her debut album, Thinking Room, the album reached the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart and was a commercial success.Moa was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand...
  
  , recording artist