Waikato Tainui
Waikato Tainui | |
|---|---|
Māori tribal government | |
Iwi's logo | |
| Tribe established | ~1350 |
| Māori king proclaimed | 2010 |
| Exiled to King Country | 1863 |
| Te Whakakitenga o Waikato (previously Te Kauhanganui) founded | 1889/1890 |
| Capital | Ngāruawāhia |
| Marae | 68 marae |
| Government | |
| • Body | Te Whakakitenga o Waikato |
| • Queen | Nga wai hono i te po |
| • Executive Chair | Parekawhia Mclean |
| Area * | |
• Total | 8,046 km2 (5,000 sq mi) |
| Population (2018)* | |
• Total | 80,000 |
| • Density | 9.9/km2 (16/sq mi) |
| Time zone | NZST |
| Website | waikatotainui |
| |
Waikato Tainui, Waikato or Tainui is a group of Māori iwi based in the Waikato Region, in the western central region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the larger Tainui confederation of Polynesian settlers who arrived to New Zealand on the Tainui waka (migration canoe). The tribe is named after the Waikato River, which plays a large part in its history and culture.
Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, the first Māori king, was a member of the Ngāti Mahuta hapu (sub-tribe) of Waikato iwi, and his descendants have succeeded him. The king movement is based at Tūrangawaewae marae (meeting place) in Ngāruawāhia.
The Waikato-Tainui iwi comprises 33 hapū (sub-tribes) and 68 marae (family groupings), with a population of over 80,000 tribal members who affiliate to it. In the 2023 New Zealand census, 47,664 people gave Waikato as an affiliation. Hamilton City is now the tribe's largest population centre, but Ngāruawāhia remains its historical centre and modern capital.