tradition agree that Rahiri was a direct descendant of Nukutawhiti who journeyed to
Aotearoa aboard the Marnari canoe.
At the time of Rahiri, prior to the rise of Ngapuhi as a tribe, Ngati Awa occupied the
territory extending eastwards from Hokianga to Te Waimate and northwards to
Whangaroa. Another early tribe, Ngai Tahuhu, occupied lands surrounding Pouerua
Pa to the south of Ngati Awa. Rahiri’s first wife Ahuaiti was a member of this tribe
and remained here with her son Uenuku when Rahiri returned to Pakanae on the
Hokianga Harbour. It was here that he remarried and his second son Kaharau was
born. Thus, the two sides of Ngapuhi, genealogical and geographic were established;
the descendants of Kaharau in the Hokianga district and the descendants of Uenuku in
the inland Bay of Islands around Pouerua (Sissons Wihongi Hohepa 1987: 54,57,76).
Subsequently, the two lineages were reconnected through the marriage of Kaharau’s
son Taurapoho to Uenuku's daughter Raukiwhiria, uniting the tribes of Ngati Awa
and Ngai Tahuhu. Their son, Mahia, reputedly built Pakinga Pa which became the
training ground for young Ngapuhi warriors (ibid:81).
It is of interest to note at this point that in the early 1700s at approximately the same
time as the radiocarbon date obtained for the site, an alliance was formed between
another of Rahiri’s descendants and the people of Te Waimate. This was in the form
of a marriage between Te Taniwha and Kuraimaraewhiti, who probably lived in the
vicinity of Pakinga Pa as their children were born there (ibid:84). J I -
J
In the mid 18”‘ century in the time of Auha, Ngapuhi had not completely subjugated
their inland neighbours in and around Waimate and were engaged in sporadic
skirmishing with them. Ngapuhi power was at that time centred around Hokianga and
the Kaikohe district and Pakinga was their main pa (Lee 1996:25). Radioqarbon
dating indicates that site 1306/82 was in use probably during the occupancy_of Pakinga
Pa by either Auha or his father Te Wairua.
The conquest of Te Waimate coincided with the formation of the northern alliance
between the descendants of Maikuku and those of her sister Ruakiwhiria. The
northern alliance consisted of hapu from Kaikohe, Te Waimate, Rangihoua, Te Puna,
Pakaraka, Waitangi, Kerilceri and north to Te Ti, Mangonui and Takou Bay (Sissons
Wihongi Hohepa 1987: 31). Palcinga, Pouerua and Parahirahi were the three main
northern alliance pa and between 1770 and 1826 the alliance extended its territory
from Kaikohe to Te Rawhiti.
The line of descent at Palcinga moved from Auha to his son Te Hotete and thence to
Hongi Hika. Hongi Hilca became a leading rangatira of one of the principal hapu
there, Te Uri—o—Hua, and gained a reputation as being one of the greatest warriors in
the country (ibid: 31, 33). Pakinga was one of his main pa and when he died in 1829
his bones lay there for a time (Lee 1996:1410). The late Mr Hone Helce Rank.in.who in
1963 owned the land where Pakinga Pa is located also believed it to be the birth place
of Home Heke, the son-in-law of Hongi Hika (Lawn 1963).
In 1875 the land was recorded in the Maori Land Court minutes as the Punakitere
Block covering an area of 7557 acres and owned by Hori Karaka Tawhiti. The
accounts of claimants to the land recorded in the minute books provide an insight into
the way of life of the people who lived there and the vegetation cover on the block at
3
Back 
