Ngāti Te Whiti is the mana whenua of New Plymouth. Our rohe extends from the Herekawe to the Waiwhakaiho River, inland to it’s headwaters on Taranaki and back to the Herekawe.

Ngāti Te Whiti traces descent from our eponymous ancestor – Te Whiti o Rongomai – who lived in the late 1700s.

Our right of occupation is based on continuous occupation by generations of connected ancestors from the earliest kinship groups such as Moturoa, Ngāmotu, Ngāti Tuparikino, Ngāti Hamua, and Ngāti Tawhirikura.

We regard New Plymouth as our tūrangawaewae – our paepae, our footstool, the land on which we alone might stand.

Our coastal boundary includes many former pā and wāhi tapu such as Waiwhakaiho, Purukau, Autere, Kerau, Waimanu, Te Kawau, Puke Ariki, Pukerangi, Rangipiko, Otaka, Moturoa, Paritutu, Onuku Taipari, Te Mahoe and many urupā.

One of our important coastal areas is Ngā Motu [the islands] and the surrounding waters. Ngā Motu was one of the first inhabited areas, and the islands and reefs were all named by Ngāti Te Whiti.

Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Te Herekawe me Te Waiwhakaiho ngā awa
Ko Tokomaru te waka
Ko Te Atiawa te iwi
Ko Ngāti Te Whiti te hapū.
No reira – tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.