Te Tū whakahira me ngā kōrero tuku iho mō ngā Tūpuna Maunga Tūpuna Maunga significance and history

Auckland's Tūpuna Maunga (ancestral mountains) hold a paramount place in the historical, spiritual, ancestral and cultural identity of the 13 iwi and hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (the mana whenua tribes of Auckland).

The maunga are at the heart of Auckland's identity and represent a celebration of our Māori identity as the city's point of difference in the world.

Aucklanders and visitors to the city know of the historical occupation of the Tūpuna Maunga by Māori, or they will experience, or may recognise, the terraced areas and other archaeological features. However, the fundamental significance of these treasured places is often not fully realised.

The continuous relationships of Mana Whenua with the Tūpuna Maunga express unbroken, living connections across the oceans and time.

This is underpinned by the fundamental Polynesian ethos of kinship with the physical, spiritual and human worlds.

Māori settlement of Aotearoa North Island - now used as the Māori name for New Zealand. was the final iteration of over 3,000 years of a distinct Polynesian cultural tradition, based on maritime migration to, and adaptation of, hundreds of islands. Māori settlement of Aotearoa was the extreme extent of more than 30,000 years of Pacific expansion through migration.

Over time, as Māori society developed in Aotearoa - the last temperate habitable landmass on Earth - Tāmaki Makaurau The Māori name for Auckland. Translates to Tāmaki desired by many. emerged as a singular centre.

The Tūpuna Maunga were developed into the most extensive network of monumental and defendable settlements in Polynesia, supported by expansive areas of volcanic soils suitable for agriculture.

Combined with a highly strategic maritime location, this made Tāmaki Makaurau an unparalleled centre of Māori social organisation – and the most active nexus of complex inter-tribal relationships and connections, transit and trade in Māori society.

The Tūpuna Maunga are revered by mana whenua as the creations of Mataaho (the guardian of the Earth's secrets) and Ruaumoko (the god of earthquakes and volcanoes). They were significant areas of settlement, of agriculture, of battles, of marriages, of birth and burial.

The Tūpuna Maunga are places to be honoured, respected and protected for those who have gone before and for the many generations to come.

2014 saw the landmark Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Deed passed into law.

As part of this Treaty of Waitangi settlement, 14 Tūpuna Maunga were returned to the 13 mana whenua iwi and hapū of Auckland, marking an important milestone in the restoration of these iconic taonga (treasures).

The 14 Tūpuna Maunga are:

• Matukutūruru / Wiri Mountain
• Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill
• Maungarei / Mount Wellington
• Maungawhau / Mount Eden
• Maungauika / North Head
• Ōwairaka / Te Ahi-kā-a-Rakataura / Mount Albert
• Ōhinerau / Mount Hobson
• Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain
• Ōtāhuhu / Mount Richmond
• Pukewīwī / Puketāpapa / Mount Roskill
• Rarotonga / Mount Smart
• Te Kōpuke / Tītīkōpuke / Mount St John
• Takarunga / Mount Victoria
• Te Tātua a Riukiuta / Big King.

Māngere Mountain and the Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill northern land ownership remains with the Crown but are administered through the Maunga Authority for the purposes of the Reserves Act 1977.

The Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014 legislated the transfer of ownership of the 14 Tūpuna Maunga to Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau (also known as the Tāmaki Collective).

The maunga are to be held in trust for the common benefit of the iwi/hapū of Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau and the other people of Auckland.

Negotiations between Mana Whenua and the Crown on the ownership of the Tūpuna Maunga commenced in July 2009 and the Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Collective Redress Deed of Settlement was signed in September 2012 following agreement by the 13 iwi A number of hapū (section of a tribe) related through a common ancestor. / hapū A number of whānau sharing descent from a common ancestor; kinship group, sub-tribe. of the Tāmaki Collective.

The return of the Tūpuna Maunga and the establishment of the Tūpuna Maunga o Tāmaki Makaurau Authority (Maunga Authority) were a focal point and essential outcome of the Treaty of Waitangi negotiations between the Crown and the 13 iwi/hapū of the Tāmaki Collective:

Marutūāhu Rōpū Group or organisation.

• Ngāti Maru
• Ngāti Pāoa
• Ngāti Tamaterā
• Ngāti Whanaunga
• Te Patukirikiri.

• Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara
• Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei
• Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua.

• Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki
• Ngāti Tamaoho
• Ngāti Te Ata
• Te Ākitai Waiohua
• Te Kawerau ā Maki.

Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Act 2014.

Ngā Mana Whenua o Tāmaki Makaurau Collective Redress Deed of Settlement.