Reconnected to the land

When Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation was created in 1969, it marked the end of a long battle for the return of our ancestral land.

Regaining control of our land enables us to support our people, promote our culture and develop our communities.

A bright future

"He ao āpōpō, he ao tea", our future is bright, and with it comes clarity – Dr Whakaari Rangitākuku Mete Kingi, founding chair of Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation

By the late 1800s, most of the land in the Whanganui area had been

sold – despite the efforts of our rangatira.

To protect what remained, Whanganui iwi entrusted more than 46,500 hectares to a Māori Land Council for leasing.

But we gradually lost control of the land until 1967, when the Māori Land Court ordered that 40,900 hectares be returned to us.

Two years later, the vested lands were incorporated to form the Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation – Awhi.

To regain the land, we had to compensate people who had been leasing the land for any improvements they had made to it.

Since then we’ve worked steadily to claim back our land.

It has been a difficult and expensive process, but more than 35,000 hectares are back in our care. We’re working hard for the return of the rest.

We're now rejuvenating the reclaimed land and sharing its bounty with our people.

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui, also known as Te Keepa or Major Kemp, led the fight to protect our land for future generations.

Born in the early 1820s, Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui was a chief of Whanganui, Muaūpoko, Rangitāne and Ngāti Apa.

As an outstanding military leader, he supported the settler government in an effort to help protect his people.

But by the late 1870s, Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui had lost respect for a government that had broken its promises and continued allowing Māori land to be sold.

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui used his mana to challenge the government, calling on Māori from all sides of the recent wars to join forces to fight for more

control of their lands.

In 1893, he famously urged Native Affairs Minister James Carroll to care for “te mōrehu whenua, te mōrehu tangata” – “the remnants of our land and the remnants of our people”.

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui tried to set up a Māori land trust in Whanganui, but the law was changed and land sales continued.

Only in the 1970s were we able to start the long journey towards governing our own lands.

Today, we remember Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui as a great leader and the forefather of Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation.

Te Mōrehu

Our struggle to prevent the sale of our lands was led from Huriwhenua, a whare rūnanga at Kahotea Marae in Rānana.

The meeting house was set up by Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui, who urged local iwi to join forces to support each other to fight for control of the

remaining land.

In 1900, Huriwhenua was repaired and given a new name, Te Mōrehu.

The name was chosen in honour of Te Rangihiwinui’s request to the Minister of Native Affairs, James Carroll, to care for “te mōrehu tangata, te mōrehu whenua” – “the remnants of the people and the remnants of the land”.

Te Mōrehu reminds us that the land should always be protected for the benefit of future generations of our people.

Reconnected to the land

A bright future

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui

Te Mōrehu

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Reconnected to the land﻿﻿

A bright future

Taitoko Te Rangihiwinui

Te Mōrehu

Our whanau

Who we are

Get the latest updates straight to your inbox

Stay Connected

Stay Connected

Reconnected to the land