Ngāti Whātua
The terms Ngāti Whātua-whānui or Ngāti Whātua-tūturu – meaning ‘wider’ or ‘true’ Ngāti Whātua – refer to the confederation of four tribes occupying the lands between the Hokianga Harbour and Tāmaki (Auckland). The tribes are Te Roroa, Te Uri-o-Hau, Te Taoū and Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei. The shorter title of Ngāti Whātua is sometimes used to describe both the wider confederation and the fourth member group. While it is tempting to think of the four groups as hapū (clans or descent groups) of a single iwi (tribe), each is actually an independent tribe that can act with others or independently.⠀
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The Ngāti Whātua tribes share a common heritage. They are descended from the ancestor Tuputupuwhenua (sometimes known as Tumutumuwhenua). Each tribe is affiliated with the Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi canoe, which landed on the west coast between Kaipara Harbour and the Hokianga. And they share links with the ancestors who migrated from Muriwhenua and intermarried with, and then subsumed, groups living in the region the tribes occupy today. The rohe of Ngāti Whātua is traditionally expressed as Tāmaki ki Maunganui i te Uru and Tāmaki ki Manaia i te Rāwhiti.
Iwi Chair
Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish DNZM. JPTe
As a Māori health advocate Dame Rangimarie Naida Glavish DNZM JP was one of four new dames announced in the New Year Honours 2017.
Ms Glavish became a Dame Companion of the NZ Order of Merit for her services to Māori and is well-known for championing appropriate cultural support
and 2011 Naida was awarded ONZM for services to Māori and the community.
Dame Naida started at the Auckland Area Health Board in 1990 as a Bicultural Manager.
Then dual role as the Chief Advisor Tikanga, General Manager, Māori Health, Auckland DHB and from 2011 across Waitematā and Auckland District Health Boards.
November 2016 her role changed to the Chief Advisor Tikanga Māori, Waitematā & Auckland District Health Boards.
As the Chief Advisor Tikanga (CAT) leads the organisation in managing relationships with Mana Whenua, and Mātā Waka.
The CAT role supports the management of the DHB’s obligation to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and provides cultural support to all staff which is available to patients and their whānau.
Dame Naida is the author of the Tikanga Best Practice Policy which is used nationally across many of the DHBs and some organisations in the private sector.