Waimangō is a kāinga (ancestral home) located on the western shores of the Firth of Thames (Tīkapa Moana); approximately ten minutes drive north of Kaiaua, and just south of the Tāpapakanga Regional Park. It includes a farm block, a bush block and a papakāinga reserve located on the seaward side of the property.

 

Waimangō is the home of Te Whānau-a-Haunui, one of the modern day whānau of Ngāti Whanaunga. It is the place where we come together as a family - where we foster our whanaungatanga with one another, where we express our care (kaitiakitanga) for Waimangō and for each other, where we host (manaakitanga) visitors and events, where we mark and acknowledge important milestones in the life of our family (birthdays, weddings, deaths) and where we engage in all sorts of creative enterprises - from managing a farm to convening whare tapere, from negotiating with mussel farmers to educating ourselves about our history, identity and culture. It is also a place where we come simply to relax and have fun.

 

Waimangō is an extraordinary taonga and the home of Te Whānau-a-Haunui.

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Waimangō is located within the iwi district called Wharekawa. This is bounded in the north of the Tāpapakanga Stream and in the south by the Whakatīwai Stream. The iwi of this district is Ngāti Whanaunga (to the north) and Ngāti Pāoa (at Whakatīwai) who share a marae at Whakatīwai called Wharekawa.

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Waimangō Land Blocks and Trusts

Waimangō comprises two land blocks which are managed by their respective Trusts. One block (Wharekawa 4B2A1B2) is 126 hectares (311 acres) and contains the working farm. This block is managed by the Te Whānau-a-Haunui 438 Ahuwhenua Trust. Press here to read about the farm trust.

 

The other block (Wharekawa 4B2A1B1) is 2.02 hectares (5 acres) in size and lies on the sea side of the farm. This is the papakāinga and it contains two buildings and the family urupā. The papakāinga is managed by the Te Whānau-a-Haunui Papakāinga Trust. Press here to read more about the Papakāinga Trust.

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Te Ture Whenua Māori Land Act 1993 No. 4

These Trusts were established under the provisions of the Te Ture Whenua Māori Land Act 1993.

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You can read the full text of the Act here.

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The Waimangō Farm is managed by the Te Whānau-a-Haunui 438 Ahuwhenua Trust An ahuwhenua trust is described in Section 215 of the Act.

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Read here for Section 215 of the Te Ture Whenua Māori Land Act 1993.

 

Some Important Perspectives on Waimangō

It is important to note that this description of Waimangō concerns how it is perceived from the point of view of the law. From the perspective of tikanga Māori - traditional Māori culture - however, the view is quite different.

 

First, in traditional Māori culture, a kāinga (home) that is located next to the sea also includes the adjacent sea area. It is usual and customary to recognise that the people living on the land immediately adjacent to the sea also enjoy rights and mana to the sea area. Hence, Waimangō in total represents not just the land area but the adjacent marine area as well.

 

Second, Waimangō is not private property. Although in law, there are ‘owners’ of Waimangō, in reality, these ownership rights are not the same as conventional land ownership rights in private property. This is because Waimangō can never be sold.

 

There are a number of reasons as to why Waimangō can not be sold. First, it is ‘he taonga tuku iho’, an intergenerational collectively ‘owned’ treasure. It is both a shared treasure and it is meant to be intergenerational, meaning that it is to be passed from one generation to the next and in perpetuity. 

 

A second reason is that in his will, Tukumana Te Taniwha (foster father of Haunui Tukumana), explicitly states that Waimangō must never be sold, leased and mortgaged. Finally, we should also remember that as so much iwi/hapū/whānau land has been alienated since the 19th century, we should strive to protect Waimangō so as to halt the decline of iwi/hapū/whānau land.

 

Hence, Waimangō is a treasure handed down through the generations and just as we today benefit from this taonga, so succeeding generations have a right to enjoy Waimangō as well.

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It is for this reason that Waimangō is better referred to as whenua (rather than land) as this term includes these meanings. 

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Read more about the history of Waimangō.